YORKSHIRE
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
JOURNAL
VOLUME 4 6
1974
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
CLAREMONT, CLARENDON ROAD
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Patrons
The Most Reverend the LORD ARCHBISHOP OF YORK The EARL OF ROSSE, m.b.e., ll.d., f.s.a.
The Right Rev. the LORD BISHOP OF RIPON The EARL OF SCARBROUGH
President
G. C. F. FORSTER, b.a., f.s.a., f.r.hist.soc.
Honorary Vice-Presidents
R. J. A. BUNNETT, f.a.a. E. A. GEE, m.a., d.phil., f.s.a., f.r.hist.soc.
Sir CHARLES CLAY, c.b., hon.litt.d., f.s.a., f.b.a. Professor JOHN LE PATOUREL, m.a., d.phil., d. de l’univ .
F. W. BROOKS, m.a., f.s.a.,
Vice-Presidents
f.r.hist.soc. HARTLEY THWAITE, j.p., m.phil., f.s.a.
P. O. WALKER, M.A., LL.B.
ADDYMAN, P. V., m.a., f.s.a. {York)
ALLISON, K. J., b.a. , ph.d. ( Cottingham )
BERESFORD, Professor M. W., m.a. (Leeds)
BLACK, D. W., b.a. , f.s.a. ( Appleton Roebuck)
BREARS, P. C. D., d.a.d. ( Wakefield )
BROWN, T. H., l.d.s. (. Middlesbrough )
BUTLER, L. A. S., m.a., ph.d., f.s.a. (Leeds)
COLLIS, J., b.a. (Sheffield)
DAVISON, P. D., (Marion)
FOSTER, Miss A. G., b.a., a.l.a. (Leeds)
FRENCH, T. W., m.a., f.s.a. (York)
GOODALL, I. H., b.a., (York)
Council
JENNINGS, B., m.a. (Leeds)
KING, A., b.sc. , m.a. (Settle)
LA PAGE, J., f.s.a., f.r.g.s., f.r.hist.soc. ( Baildoti )
MANBY, T. G., m.a. ( Doncaster )
MAYES, P., b.a., f.s.a. (Leeds)
MELLARS, P. A., m.a., ph.d. (Sheffield)
NUTTALL, Mrs B. H„ b.sc. (Leeds)
OGDEN, J. H. (Hipperholme)
RAMM, H. G., o.b.e., m.a., f.s.a. (York)
SLATCHER, W. N., b.a., m.sc., ph.d. (Wakefield)
SPEAK, H„ f.r.g.s., (Wakefield)
SPRATT, D. A., m.a., ph.d. (Middlesbrough)
WORDINGHAM, Miss L., b.sc. (Leeds)
HARTLEY, B. R., m.a., f.s.a. (York)
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YO5 9RH.
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THE
YORKSHIRE
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
JOURNAL
PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COUNCIL
OF THE
YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
VOLUME 46
FOR THE YEAR
1974
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CONTENTS OF VOLUME 46
page
EXCAVATIONS OF THREE ROUND BARROWS ON ETTON WOLD, EAST RIDING OF
YORKSHIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
D. Coombs
THE PREHISTORY OF THE VALE OF YORK . . . . . . . . . . . . io
The Late J. Radley
ECOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT A ROMANO-BRITISH EARTHWORK IN THE
YORKSHIRE PENNINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
H. M. Tinsley and R. T. Smith
LOW CAYTHORPE, EAST YORKSHIRE - THE MANOR SITE . . . . . . . . 34
Glyn Coppack
ANIMAL REMAINS FROM WHARRAM PERCY . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
M. L. Ryder, J. G. Hurst and H. E. Jean Le Patourel
BOOTHTOWN HALL, A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE IN THE PARISH OF HALIFAX . . 53
J. A. Gilks
CHEESECAKE HALL, OULTON, WEST RIDING . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
K. Hutton
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK, 1547-86 .. .. .. .. .. 87
D. M. Palliser
THE COUNTY SQUIREARCHY AND THE FIGHT FOR PLACE IN THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
P. Roebuck
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE LOWER DEARNE VALLEY .. .. no
J. C. Harvey
THE BIRSTALL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Lilian L. Shim an
OBITUARY: C. E. HARTLEY .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 140
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER: 1973 .. .. .. .. .. 141
ARCHIVAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: BOOK REVIEWS .. .. .. 158
The Editor has been asked to point out that in Volume 45 of the Journal the second sub-
heading on p. 29 should read ‘Frecken Bellarmine Medallions’.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Intending contributors are reminded that much time can be saved if they will obtain from
the Editor a copy of the conventions used in the Journal, well before their material is ready
for submission.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The Society wishes it to be understood that responsibility for opinions and material contained in
articles, notes and reviews is that of their authors alone, to whom any resulting correspondence
should be addressed.
EXCAVATIONS OF THREE ROUND BARROWS
ON ETTON WOLD, EAST RIDING
OF YORKSHIRE
By David Coombs
Summary Three of a group of four Early Bronze Age barrows were excavated on Etton Wold. Of the three,
two had been excavated by Greenwell, the third by a person unknown. Each barrow showed different construc-
tional details: a was a ditched bowl barrow, c a ditchless turf stack barrow with the central area encircled by a low
bank of chalk and flint, and d was a turf stack bell barrow. The only notable finds came from the backfill of
Greenwell’s trench in barrow c and consisted of two sherds from the same collared vessel; the complete collared
vessel found by Greenwell is in the British Museum; the copper/bronze awl from the barrow is lost.
Three round barrows on Etton Wold (SE 935438) were excavated in 1969 and 1970 on
behalf of the then Ministry of Public Building and Works and with the kind permission
of the owners, Messrs. Nesfield and Sons of Wallis Grange, Market Weighton.1 Before
excavation the barrows had been much flattened by ploughing and only appeared as
slight mounds in the field.
The barrow group lies some 4 miles north-east of Market Weighton, situated between
the road from Market Weighton to Etton, and the railway line that once ran from Selby
to Kingston-upon-Hull (Fig. 1). The area is just on the western edge of the chalk and the
Fig. 1. Location of Etton barrows. (Based on 0.5. map. Crown copyright reserved.)
1 I would like to thank the Assistant Director, Mr Ian Kinnes, and Supervisors Miss M. Dale and Miss S. Grealey,
and the volunteers who helped on the excavation; Mr Paul Middleton who helped in the final preparation of
the plans; the Trustees of the British Museum for allowing the publication of the urn in their possession; Dr
Ian Longworth for his note on the pottery; and the Institute of Geological Sciences, Leeds, for supplying the
geological information.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
O
O
Q
Fig. 2. Barrow a.
THREE ROUND BARROWS ON ETTON WOLD
3
barrows lie in a small valley between the 150-foot contour on superficial deposits covering
the floor of the Market Weighton spillway of glacial origin. The deposits are mainly flinty
sand and gravel with a few sandstone pebbles. The underlying chalk is of Middle Chalk
age. To the north-west of this barrow group there is another concentration on Goodman-
ham Wold and to the south-west a group near Market Weighton.
Excavations were carried out on barrows a, c and d; barrow b is much larger than the
rest but the threat from ploughing was not so immediate. The latter can be identified as
Greenwell’s barrow LXXX.2 This had contained a central deposit of burnt bones placed
in a small circular hollow but buried without any grave goods. The finding of an 1863
penny in mint condition on top of this barrow in 1969 might date Green well’s activity
in the area.
Barrow a (Fig. 2)
Barrows a and b are at a slightly lower level than c and d, and the immediate vicinity
has been subjected to winter flooding. Barrow a had suffered the most thorough ploughing
and was only just visible. Upon excavation it was found that most of the original mound
had been ploughed away and there was no trace of an old ground surface (Fig. 5).
Excavation suggested that a small, natural chalk knoll had been utilised and formed
into a barrow by encircling it with a ditch and constructing a small mound. The ditch
was c. 62 feet in diameter, of width varying from 2 to 4 feet, 1 foot 6 inches in depth, with
sloping sides and a round bottom. In the north-west quadrant the ditch was slight, being
c. 9 inches deep. The original mound was made up of earth, chalk and flints, and the ditch
sections showed the natural weathering process, with bands of flints separated by layers
of fairly flint-free brown earth (Fig. 5). A slight depression 7 feet by 5 feet and 1 foot
deep, near the centre, can be interpreted as the original grave pit, though much enlarged
by Greenwell’s excavation.
This barrow can be identified as Greenwell LXXXI3 and his trench was clearly visible
around the central area. Greenwell remarked that ‘At the centre was a hollow, excavated
in the chalk gravel 14 in. in diameter and i| ft. deep, in which was a deposit of the burnt
bones of a child, not above three years old, resting upon a layer, 2 in. thick, of black-
coloured sand full of pieces of charcoal, and having another layer 8 in. thick, of similarly-
coloured sand over the bones. The body had not been burnt on the spot’.
The only finds made during the excavations were a small sherd of possible prehistoric
pottery, a sherd of Romano-British grey ware, and a sherd of medieval pottery, all from
high up in the post-barrow layers and all in a derived context.
Barrow c (Fig. 3)
Barrow c is situated c. 210 yards east of barrow a and on slightly higher ground, its
highest point being 124-75 feet O.D. It appeared as a low mound falling away more
steeply on the southern side than on the north. The northern trench was excavated for
a length of 50 feet from the centre and failed to produce any evidence of a ditch, and there
was no indication of a ditch from the surface.
Excavation revealed a mound built of horizontally-laid turves, its dimensions being
c. 52 feet north-south, 55 feet east-west, with a maximum surviving thickness of 2 feet
9 inches over the grave pit and 1 foot over the old ground surface, which was clearly
visible in the section (Fig. 5).
Beneath the mound were found traces of a rough ring of chalk and flint, c. 25 feet in
diameter, 4 feet in maximum width and 7 inches high, encircling the grave pit, and built
2 Greenwell, W. and Rolleston, G., British Barrows (Oxford, 1877), p. 284
3 Ibid.
4
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
"O
c
z>
o
E
M—
o
0)
cn
TD
LU
O
cn c
c 0)
c ^
O
o \
o J*
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Fig. 3. Barrow c.
on the old ground surface. In two places, on the alignment of the ring (F4) and beneath
it (F5), were found charcoal patches on the old ground surface.
The central area consisted of a depression c. 15 feet in diameter and 1 foot 3 inches
deep, into the floor of which had been excavated the central grave, F3. The burial pit
THREE ROUND BARROWS ON ETTON WOLD
5
was a bucket-shaped hole, 15 inches in diameter at the tip and 1 foot 3 inches deep.4
Although the fill was exactly the same as that of Greenwell’s trench, the pit had burnt
soil with flecks of charcoal at the bottom and the sides, presumably part of the original
fill not removed by Greenwell. Adjacent to this feature and at the base of Greenwell’s
back-fill were fragments of calcined human bones including a humerus head, rib and
cranial pieces. The burnt nature of the surrounding chalk supports Greenwell’s conclusions
that the body had been burnt in situ. Part of the side of the pit had been dislodged during
Etton
Barrow d
ir ir
11
= Edge of mound
- - Disturbed
4 0 4 8 12 16 20 Ft
1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 M
DGC
Fig. 4. Barrow d.
construction and here the side had been packed with stiff clay to preserve the regularity
of the outline. A second pit, Fi, to the south of F3, was probably natural.
Greenwell’s trench was clearly visible in plan and section, and within his back-fill two
4 These dimensions vary considerably from Greenwell’s (see below) but there was evidence that part of the
top of the pit, especially on the southern side, had been removed. The central position of this pit and other
evidence (see above) suggest that this was the site of the original grave.
Barrow
6
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Fig. 5. Barrow sections
THREE ROUND BARROWS ON ETTON WOLD
7
sherds of a collared urn were found (Fig. 6). His trench had also cut through F 2 , a pit cut
into the turf stack of the barrow. The fill of this feature was clean clayey sand and it does
not appear to have been a secondary burial.
This barrow is Green well LXXIX.5 Greenwell reported: ‘At a distance of 14 ft. south-
west-by-south from the centre and laid upon the natural surface, were a few burnt bones
of an adult, with some burnt chalk close to them. At what had no doubt originally been
the centre, though now 8| ft. west-by-south of the present centre, were the remains of
a burnt body, placed in a hollow about 2\ ft. in diameter, and excavated to a depth of
10 in. below the natural surface. The body, probably of a male adult, had been burnt on
the spot, and the bones had never been removed from the place where the body had been
laid on the wood of the funeral pile, abundant remains of which, in the shape of charcoal,
were found beneath the bones. The body had been placed in the usual contracted position,
on the right side, with the head to north-east-by-east, and behind the hips was found
a vessel of pottery [Plate 1] whilst close to the bones of the chest was a small piece of bronze,
apparently the remains of a drill or awl, which had been burnt with the body. With
the human bones were found the burnt scapula, radius, and ulna of a young pig ....
There appeared to be something like a circular wall of flints and chalk but very irregularly
formed, enclosing the place of burning, its diameter being about 11 ft. Amongst the
material of the mound was a fragment of a “food vessel”, and another of a cinerary urn’.
Barrow d (Fig. 4)
Barrow d was situated slightly to the south-east of c. The highest point on the barrow
was 126-25 ft. O.D. Upon excavation the barrow was found to have been encircled by
an irregular ditch c. 72 ft. in diameter, 4 ft. wide and 2 ft. deep. Separating the ditch from
the mound was a berm c. 11 ft. wide. The old ground surface and the edge of the mound
could be clearly seen in the section (Fig. 5) and the original mound had a diameter of
52 ft. The mound itself had been constructed from horizontally-laid turves and at present
its highest point was 1 ft. above the old ground surface.
The central area had been disturbed down to the natural and the central grave had been
completely robbed. The grave was an irregularly shaped pit 8 ft. long by 6 ft. wide and
2 ft. deep from the chalk surface. This barrow is not mentioned by Greenwell and so
presumably he was not responsible for excavating it.
Fig. 6. Sherds of collared vessel from Barrow c, Etton.
On the southern side of the barrow its ditch had been cut and removed by the large
ditch of a linear earthwork which ran along the field. Part of the earthwork is shown on
the i-inch O.S. map (Sheet 98) and Mortimer makes a brief mention of it,6 although its
date is unknown.
The only finds that were made during the excavation of this barrow all came from the
6 Greenwell and Rolleston, British Barrows (1877), p. 283.
8 Mortimer, J. R., Forty Years’ Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire (1905), p. 376.
8
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
topsoil and amounted to three sherds of hard fabric, with buff/ red exterior and black
exterior, that are probably of prehistoric date.
Finds
The only pottery worthy of comment are the complete collared vessel and collared
vessel fragments from barrow c. The two sherds (Fig. 6), although they do not fit, are
undoubtedly from the same vessel; presumably these are the fragments referred to y
Plate i. Collared vessel from Barrow c, Etton, Yorkshire.
(By courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum.)
THREE ROUND BARROWS ON ETTON WOLD
9
Greenwell. They are from a collared vessel of no mm mouth diameter; the pot has a
black core and red/buff exterior and interior. The maximum thickness of the collar is
13 mm, the thickness of the body of the pot is 8 mm, and the depth of the collar is 3 1 mm.
The collar is roughly decorated with impressed herringbone decoration, and this is
repeated below the collar. The impressions were probably made with the end of a bone,
from their shape probably a rib. Sherd (a) was found above Fi and (b) near the centre of
the barrow, both in Greenwell’s back-fill.
The complete collared vessel found by Greenwell (B.M. 79, 12-9, 1151) is 127 mm in
diameter at the mouth and 76*2 mm at the bottom and 175-3 mm high. Two horizontal
twisted cord lines are present on the internal rim bevel. On the collar is a twisted cord line
above twisted cord filled triangles (Plate I).
The Pottery (Dr. I. H. Long worth)
The sherds (Fig. 6) recovered during the 1970 excavations belong to a vessel of the
Primary Series7 carrying a minimum of two primary traits, a simple rim and repetitive
herringbone on the collar and neck. Typologically this vessel would appear to be earlier
than the complete vessel recovered by Greenwell, a tripartite form (BII) typical of the
South-Eastern style of the Secondary series. This vessel belongs to a small series of collared
vessels in the Secondary Series which are not employed as urns but accompany as accessory
vessels inhumation or cremation burials. Since urned burial is typical of the Secondary
Series, it is normally assumed that these aberrant usages are likely to be early. It is possible,
however, that their significance may prove to be social rather than strictly chronological,
a suggestion which can only be tested satisfactorily when a comprehensive series of dates
become available for the Collared Urn series as a whole, divorced from typological theory.
The Council of the Society wishes to thank the Department of the Environment for a grant
towards the cost of publishing this article.
7 Longworth, I. H., ‘The Origins and Development of the Primary Series in the Collared Urn Tradition in
England and Wales’, Procs. Prehist. Soc., XXVII (1961), pp. 263-306.
10
THE PREHISTORY OF THE VALE OF YORK
By the late J. Radley
Summary Distribution maps of Neolithic and Bronze Age tools and weapons from the Vale of York show the
importance for settlement of areas of well-drained soil. The slight evidence for Iron Age occupation of the site of
York is also considered.
The site of York has been a nodal point of transport and settlement since prehistoric
times, and the factors producing and maintaining this position are well known. York is
at the centre of the largest river valley in Northern England, at a point where it is 25 miles
wide. To the east, the rich Chalk Wolds supported one of Britain’s most significant
prehistoric centres. To the west, the Vale is separated from the sandstone foothills of the
Pennines by the north-south belt of Magnesian Limestone which has always been a major
line of communication. Northwards, the Vale narrows and passes into the Northallerton
gap, while 40 miles to the south it opens into the Humber estuary and the Vale of Trent.
Within this framework, the Vale lies in the outcrop of red sandstone exposed on its
fringes but masked elsewhere by Late- and Post-Glacial deposits. The main halt-stage in
the retreat of the last ice sheet produced the York and Escrick Moraines, a ridge of gravel-
capped clay which spans the Vale. Subsequently, the Vale was occupied by an ice-dammed
lake, which over much of its area left a cover of clays, sands, and gravels with a high
water-table. Reworking of these sands and gravels by wind and river, the tidal flooding
of the southern part of the Vale, and flooding from the dendritic system of sluggish rivers
which wound across the post-glacial surface, combined to produce a landscape of sandy
heath, forest, and peaty carr land which prevailed in places into historic times.
York is situated at the point where the well-drained moraine is cut by the River Ouse
at its tidal head, giving the city access to the sea, and to the areas beyond the Vale by the
east-west land link and by river. Here the moraine is perhaps a mile wide and 25-5. ft.
above the highest flood levels; this provides an agriculturally attractive environment of
well-drained sandy and loamy soils in the midst of a relatively hostile Vale.
Within the city there are several significant small chorographic features. Approaching
York from the west, the moraine is divided by Askham Bog and Holgate Beck into two
ridges. The depositional humps and hollows of the northern ridge are very clear around
Severus Hills, while the better defined southern ridge was favoured for the Roman road
from Tadcaster through Dringhouses. The abruptness with which this ridge terminates
at the Ouse can be seen by descending Micklegate, but has been obscured where the ground
was levelled for the station.
The continuation of the moraine, which is considerably narrower on the east side of
the Ouse, by Heslington Hill towards Stamford Bridge, suggests an original crossing
point on a morainic routeway at or below the confluence of the Ouse and Foss, a trans-vale
routeway which was more direct than that provided by the Escrick Moraine.
The remaining area within the city is the block of elevated moraine which is isolated
between the Ouse and Foss. This was selected by the Romans for their legionary fortress
for tactical reasons, and continuity of settlement around the Minster, established within
the fortified area, has moved the road pattern slightly north of its natural line, bringing
with it the problems of congestion and of bridging two rivers which are still evident
today. Significantly, the Roman civil settlement remained on the south-west side of the
river.
The distribution maps (Figs. 1-3) of selected tools emphasise the role of the moraine and
THE PREHISTORY OF THE VALE OF YORK
II
rivers through the prehistoric period. The principal surviving evidence in the Vale is stone
and bronze tools, pottery, and a few barrows and unmarked burials. No Palaeolithic tools
are known from the Vale. Few Mesolithic sites have been found in an area which must
have been attractive to hunters and fishermen.
The Neolithic period is represented by axes and concentrations of struck flints. The map
(Fig. i) shows numerous axes from the sandstone and chalk fringes of the Vale, less
numerous axes along the moraines and rivers, and large empty lowland areas. Within
York itself at least 23 axes have been found but those with a detailed provenance are
confined to the south-west side of the Ouse. At least 20 flint sites, yielding leaf-shaped
arrowheads, scrapers, etc. are known in the Vale, the nearest sites to York being Fulford
and Overton.
Fig. 1. Distribution map of polished axes.
A unique hoard of flints was discovered in September 1868, when the North-Eastern
Railway Gasworks (SE 582527) were being erected at York. The hoard was 6-7 ft. deep
12
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
in the gravel terrace near the junction of Holgate Beck and the River Ouse, occupying
a space ‘that could be covered by a man’s hat’. At least 43 implements were found,
including at least 7 axes of which one is of greenstone. Watson1 illustrates 35 items,
comprising 5 large and 2 small axes, 2 leaf arrowheads, 2 trimmed blades, 3 scrapers,
9 ovoid knives or spearheads, 11 flakes and blades and one barb and tang arrowhead. The
contents and their appearance suggest a merchant’s hoard rather than a homesteader’s
possessions. Of special interest is the barb and tang arrowhead which might place the
hoard in a late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age context.2
The Bronze Age occupation of the Vale is again found on the dry ridges and river banks.
There are several round barrows or burials from the west of York at Newton Kyme,
Clifford, Wetherby and the Little Ribston area, and from the east of York at Bugthorpe,
Skirpenbeck and Gowthorpe Common, Bishop Wilton. No barrow remains are proven
from York, although two mounds at The Mount are called barrows on the First Edition
of the 6-inch OS map, but three finds suggest Early Bronze Age burials within the city.
A very fine ‘C’ Beaker, probably derived from a burial, was first described as a British urn
from near Bootham, and later as a fine drinking cup found in Bootham in 1840. 3 Two
sherds of ‘B’ Beaker from West Lodge Gate probably come from Acomb Road, Holgate.4
A contracted burial in a stone cist from below the Roman level comes from under Clifford’s
Tower, and is unlikely to be later than the Early Bronze Age.5 No Food Vessels or later
Bronze Age cinerary urns are known from the city.
Bronzes from York are badly provenanced, although there is a marked concentration of
finds from the city (see map); finds include: 5 socketed axes, 2 palstaves, 1 flat axe, and
1 looped spearhead; from ‘near York’ there are 2 socketed axes, 2 palstaves, 2 winged
axes; a looped spearhead from Heslington, and a palstave from Bishopthorpe. A hoard
of bronzes was found in 1847 during the making of a railway cutting, but only one socketed
axe survives.6 Provenanced bronzes are from The Mount, Knavesmire and Fulford-
Heslington area. Curiously, there is an almost complete absence of bronze weapons, so
frequently found on the Trent (although a leaf-shaped sword was found near Whenby
in 1946). This, together with the absence of burials, suggests that York had less importance
as a centre in the later Bronze Age.
During the Bronze Age, the moraine was probably part of a well defined east-west
trade route from Irish metal sources to East Yorkshire and the Continent, as demonstrated
by the presence of Irish gold ornaments in East Yorkshire and the numerous bronze hoards
in the Vale, but this appears to have had little impact on the settlement at York.
Stone axe hammers, usually attributed to the Bronze Age, are less frequent than polished
axes (Fig. 3) but there are four from the city (one provenanced from Scarcroft Road) and
one from Poppleton; 35 others have been found in the Vale.
The same factors presumably influenced settlement during the Iron Age but there is
extremely little surviving evidence from the York area. Roman York had a Celtic name
Eburacum (‘the place of the yew trees’ or ‘the field of Eburos’).7 This certainly implies
Celtic knowledge of the area and if the second meaning is correct Celtic ownership. Two
finds suggest that the site of any Celtic settlement may lie under the present railway
1 Yorks. Phil. Soc. Reports 1905, plates 3, 4.
2 Y.A.J. XLII (1969), pp. 131-2; Y.M. FW.100, 1-18; Y.M. 446-7, 1948.
3 C. Wellbeloved, Eburacum (1842), 122, pi. 15, no. 15; Yorks. Mus. Handbook (1854), 52 and (1881), 59; Y.M.
1000, 1947. This beaker was found in railway excavations during 1840 and must therefore have come not
from the York to Scarborough line, started in 1845, nor from Bootham, but rather from the Old Station or
near the city walls.
4 B.M. 1853, pp. 11-15, 18.
5 Yorks. Phil. Soc. Reports 1902, pp. 70-2.
6 Liverpool Museum M6996.
7 R.C.H.M., City of York I (1962), xxx.
THE PREHISTORY OF THE VALE OF YORK
13
station. Contracted inhumations are recorded from the north of the roofed-in area of the
present station.8 It is true that contracted burial continued during the Roman period
among the less Romanised natives and indeed isolated examples do occur on major
Roman sites including York.9 But although the number of burials is unspecified, Raine’s
notes imply that there were several and that they lay beneath Roman burials. We are not
therefore dealing with an occasional non-conformist in a contemporary Roman cemetery,
but with a group of early burials of uniform rite. The probability is that they are not only
native but pre-Roman. This probability is strengthened by another find also said to come
from the railway excavations - the well-known enamelled bronze belt plate in the York-
shire Museum,10 dating according to Fox from the decade centering on a.d. 70.
The evidence is consistent with a small agricultural settlement, whose leaders, as the
belt plate suggests, had some share in the wealth that accrued to the Brigantes as a result
of their pro-Roman policy.11 The site is the natural one for such a settlement on the rising
ground levelled between 1870 and 1877 to make way for the railway station, where the
morainic ridge south-west of the river broadens and provides the maximum area of well
drained soil capable of easy cultivation. The paucity of finds is readily explained by the
circumstances of the clearance of the site. With all the wealth of small finds and whole
pots relating to the Roman cemetery it is easy to understand that over such a wide area
the sherds and debris of Iron Age settlement should have been overlooked, since they
were more squalid and to Victorian eyes less interesting than the better preserved Roman
material, and indeed had probably been already disturbed by Roman burials.
A third fragment of evidence for this period is preserved in the name Green Dykes Lane
which runs from Hull Road to Heslington Road, athwart the morainic ridge on the
north-east side of the river. In the late Middle Ages the dykes were a grass-grown feature,
double (i.e. two banks with a medial ditch, or two ditches with external and/or medial
banks), 35-50 ft. wide, extending from Thief Lane to Heslington Road, across a marked
ridge with relatively steep sides. They were then used as boundary markers, as a drove
way, and produced tithes (presumably of hay), but these were secondary uses of a pre-
existing feature. The dykes were not co-extensive either with the boundaries or with the
drove way. They are best explained as an attempt to control traffic using the natural ridge
route across the Vale of York at a point where it begins to widen out after crossing the
Ouse, south of the confluence with the Foss. They belong then to a period before the siting
of the Roman legionary fortress within the confluence of the Ouse and Foss had deflected
the Roman and later road systems away from the natural crossing point of the river, and
are to be assigned to a well-known type of Iron Age earthwork - the cross-ridge dyke.12
It has been suggested that in the first century a.d. York may have been Queen Carti-
mandua’s capital,13 but the few finds provide no support for this idea. In the light of
present knowledge, recently summarised by Dr. Stead,14 the emphasis of Iron Age settle-
ment is on the northern part of the chalk Wolds. There the numerous dykes originated as
Iron Age boundaries and aerial photography has revealed scores of levelled cemeteries of
square barrows at such places as Burton Fleming, Fimber and Huggate to add to the known
8 R.C.H.M., op. cit., 85b; area f, (VI), based on notes by J. Raine in York City Library, p. 4.
9 R.C.H.M., op. cit., 105a, b; area o (XIII).
10 Y.M. 845.48; E. T. Leeds, Celtic Ornament (1933), p. 129; C. Fox, Pattern and Purpose (1958), p. 119, pi. 52-
The find spot is based on an incomplete label reading ‘. . . Excav. 1873’ which, by analogy with other Yorkshire
Museum labels and those excavations known to have been in progress during 1873 must refer to the Railway
site.
XLIV (1954), P-49-
12 Y.A.J. XLI (1966), pp. 587-90.
13 G. Simpson, Britons and the Roman Army (1964), pp. 11-12.
14 I. M. Stead, The La Tene Cultures of Eastern Yorkshire (1965) and in R. M. Butler (ed.). Soldier and Civilian in
Roman Yorkshire (1971), pp. 21-43.
14
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
earthworks at Scorborough near Leconfield, or Danes Graves near Driffield. Many of the
settlements which air photographs also disclose to have existed in numbers throughout
nearly every parish between the Wold edge and the sea and which, like Garton Slack or
Rudston continued into the Roman period, must have had Iron Age origins. Of these
settlements the hill-fort of Grimthorpe on the edge of the escarpment 13 miles east of York
with warriors’ burials there and at Bugthorpe, is the nearest to the Vale, although barrow
cemeteries are known in Skipwith parish within the area studied in this paper, 8 miles
south-east of York.
The following lists of finds from the Vale, based on research carried out by the author
and by Mr. D. P. Dymond for the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England),
were originally intended for inclusion in the Commission’s inventory of monuments in
the City of York. It was felt that since the scope of the inventory has only permitted the
lists of finds from York itself to be included, the rest of the collected material deserved
publication.15 Details of bronze spearheads for the whole of Yorkshire have already been
published.16 Of these 20 come from the Vale of York, including one looped example from
the city. Table 4 lists the few gold ornaments from the rest of Yorkshire, as well as the five
examples from the Vale. These lists can only be provisional in view of constant discoveries
but may serve as a basis for future work.
Arch. J.
Benson
B.M.
Coll.
Elgee
Evans
Evans (1881)
M.
PSA. Newcastle
PYGS
VCH
YAJ
Y.M.
YMH.
ABBREVIATIONS
The Archaeological Journal
Benson, G. York: I, From its origin to the end of the nth century (1911)
British Museum
Collection
Elgee, F. Early Man in North-East Yorkshire (1930)
Evans, J. The Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain (1897)
Evans,). The Ancient Bronze Implements of Great Britain (1881)
Museum
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne
Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
Victoria County History
Yorkshire Archaeological Journal
Yorkshire Museum, York
Yorkshire Museum Handbook
LISTS OF RECORDED FINDS17
1 . Acklam
2. Aldborough
3. Aldborough
4. Aldborough
5. Aldwark Moor
6. Ampleforth
7. Arthington
8. Askham Richard
9. Baldersby
10. Baldersby
11. Barmby Moor
12. Barmby Moor
13. Barmby Moor
14. Barmby Moor
15. Barton le Willows
16. Barton le Willows
17. Barwick in Elmet
18. Bedale Grange
1.
Neolithic Polished Axes from the Vale of York
(all stone unless otherwise stated)
Evans, 140, 415
368, 1948
328, 1948
YAJ XX (1909), 256
Unpolished flint. Elgee, 36
Adze. D125, 1964
SE 55804705
With bronze hoard. 383, 1948
With 9 and ? bronze hoard
Feather Coll.
Found i960
274.48
W. W. Rees, History of Barmby Moor
(1911), 5
Flint. 381, 1948
373, 1948
33G 1948
Y.M.
Y.M.
National M., Edinburgh
Private coll.
Leeds M.
Easing wold Sch.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Hull M.
Private coll.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Malton M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
15 It has been edited, with some additions, by R. M. Butler. For detailed list of York finds with distribution map
see R.C.H.M., City of York III (1972), xxxix.
16 Y.A.J. XLII (1967), pp. 15-19.
1 7 Material discovered since 1970 has been added by Mrs Elizabeth Hartley and is identified by the year of discovery.
THE PREHISTORY OF THE VALE OF YORK
15
19. Bedale Grange
Sturge Coll.
B.M.
20. Birdsall
94
Hull M.
21. Bishop Wilton
336, 1948
Y.M.
22. Bishop Wilton, Garrowby Wold
268
Hull M.
23-32. Boltby
Elgee, 37
Leeds M.
33. Boltby
34. Boroughbridge, Minskip
Tot Lord Coll. Settle
35. Brackenthwaite
Harrogate M.
36. Brandsby
382, 1948 = ?I96i.i
Y.M.
37. Broughton
329, 1948
Y.M.
38. Buhner
384, 1948. SE 44694673
Y.M.
39. Bulnier
Bradford Arch. Bull. V, 66
40. Byland
768.38
Scarborough M.
41. Camblesforth Common
1960.6
Y.M.
42. Castle Howard
250
Hull M.
43. Church Fenton
Yorks. Evening Press, 4.11.1958
Private coll.
44. Coulton Moor
300.42.134
Hull M.
45. Coulton Moor
300.42.315
Hull M.
46. Crambe
Sturge Coll. Evans, 125.
B.M.
47. Crambe
Sturge Coll.
B.M.
48 . Crambe
Greenwell Coll. Evans, 125, 345
B.M.
49. Crambe
Adze. Sturge Coll.
B.M.
50. Crambe
Adze. Sturge Coll.
B.M.
5 1 . Crayke
SE 549705
Easing wold Sch.
52. Crayke
340, 1948
Y.M.
53. Crayke
385, 1948
Y.M.
54. Crayke
SE 559725
55. Crayke
Nr. Mosswood Lane
56. Dalton
Flint. 51/24
Y.M.
57. Dunnington
Benson, York I, 8.
58. East Cottingwith
Unpolished flint. 1960.2
SE 707428
Y.M.
59. Elvington
25.1942
Y.M.
60. Escrick
1953-8
Y.M.
61. Escrick
1955.3: SE 628425
Y.M.
62. Follifoot
Harrogate M.
63. Fulford
Flint. 1953. 1
Y.M.
6 4. Garforth
D171.1964
Leeds M.
65. Garthorpe
Greenwell Coll. Evans, 180-1
B.M.
66. Gilling
Evans, 119
67. Gilling
Elgee, 37-8
68. Gilling
Found 1936
69. Goole
Flint found 1949: SE 74562473
70. Great Ribston
325, 1948
Y.M.
71. Harrogate, The Stray
Unpolished
Harrogate M.
72. Harrogate, Harlow Carr
SE 279542
Harrogate M.
73. Harrogate, Harlow Carr
SE 279542
Harrogate M.
74. Harrogate, Duchy Rd ./
SE 29455565
Harrogate M.
Clarence Drive
Flint
75. Haxby
Y.P.S.R. 1905, 50
76. Heslington
Flint. 1953. 1
Y.M.
77. Holme on Spalding Moor
Flint. 1951.47
Y.M.
78. Holme on Spalding Moor
Flint. 1951. 47. 17
Y.M.
79. Holme on Spalding Moor
Flint. 1951. 13
Y.M.
80. Holme on Spalding Moor
Flint. Sturge Coll.
B.M.
81. Holme on Spalding Moor
Evans, 100
82. Hotham
Flint adze. 26.62.2
Hull M.
83. Huttons Ambo
Malt on M.
84. Hutton Conyers
Ripon M.
85. Hutton Moor
Ripon M.
86. Huby
Flint. YAJ 1969
87. Kilburn
Elgee, fig. 7
88. Kilburn
Elgee, fig. 7
89. Kilburn
Elgee, fig. 7
90. Killinghall
Flint
Harrogate M.
91. Kirby Overblow
Harrogate M.
92. Kirby Underdale
2 66, 1948
Y.M.
93. a Kirby Underdale
267, 1948
Y.M.
b Kirby Underdale
268, 1948
Y.M.
c Kirby Underdale
Evans, 91
1 6
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
94. Kirby Wharfe
Flint. Speight, 178
Tadcaster M.
95. Kirby Wharfe
Flint. Speight, 200
SE 50741 1
96. Kirkham
35G 1948
Y.M.
97. Kirklington
Flint. 1875.4.3.151
B.M.
98. Knaresborough
Hull M.
99. Leavening
1523, 1948
Y.M.
100. Leavening
1634, 1948
Y.M.
101. Leeds, Storegate Rd.
D130
Leeds M.
102. Leeds, Neville St.
D131
Leeds M.
103. Leeds, Roundhay
D132
Leeds M.
104. Leeds, Roundhay, golf links
D133: SE 335385
Leeds M.
105. Leeds, Scarcroft, Kentmere
Di34:SE 344366
Leeds M.
Approach
106. Leeds, Low Towthorpe
Di35
Leeds M.
197. Leeds, E. of Shadwell
PYGS IX, 431
Reformatory
108. Leeds, Woodburn
Found 1884
109. Leeds, Alwoodley Crescent
Leeds M.
no. Linton on Ouse
Mortimer Coll.
Hull M.
in. Londesborough
Featherstone Coll.
Hull M.
1 12. Malton
1524, 1948
Y.M.
1 13. Malton
1527, 1948
Y.M.
1 14. Malton
1658, 1948
Y.M.
1 15. Malton
1669, 1948
Y.M.
1 16. Malton
1670, 1948
Y.M.
1 17. Malton
Malton M.
1 18. Marton cum Grafton
Adze. 1021, 1948
Y.M.
1 19. Melmerby
Lucas Coll. 754-3.153
B.M.
120. Melmerby
Lucas Coll.
B.M.
121. Melmerby
Sturge Coll.
B.M.
122. My ton on Swale
Adze. 1959.10
Y.M.
123. Naburn
Flint
Y.M.
124. Nether Poppleton
Y.M.
125. Newton Kyme
SE 462447
126. Newton on Ouse
339, 1948
Y.M.
127. Newton on Ouse
398, 1948
Y.M.
128. North Cliffe
YAJ 1965
Y.M.
129. Norton (E.R.)
Evans, 102
130. Osgodby
Evans, 122
13 1. Pickhill (N.R.)
1875.4.3.1860
B.M.
132. Pilmoor (N.R.)
Flint. 372, 1948
Y.M.
133. Pilmoor
Sturge Coll. 3^ in. long
B.M.
134. Pilmoor
Sturge Coll. 7 in. long
B.M.
135. Pilmoor
Sturge Coll. 9.7 in. long
B.M.
136. Pocklington
Found 1958: SE 808467
Woldgate Sch.
137. Pocklington
Flint
Buxton M.
138. Pocklington
300.42.193
Hull M.
139. Pocklington
YAJ 1964: SE 799485
Y.M.
140. Raskelf
1606, 1948
Y.M.
1 41. Raskelf
Flint. Found 1952: SE 49627030
142. Raskelf
Flint. Found 1945-50: SE 487711
143. Raskelf
Yellow flint
Private coll.
144. Raskelf
Unpolished flint: SE 496702
Private coll.
145. Raskelf
Unpolished flint
Private coll.
146. Raskelf
Sturge Coll.
B.M.
147. Rillington
P16.1
148. Rillington
P16.2
149. Rillington
P16.3
150. Rillington
335, 1948
Y.M.
151. Ripon
374, 1948
Y.M.
152. Ripon
Ripon M.
153. Sand Hutton (nr. Thirsk)
Middlesbrough M
154. Sand Hutton (nr. York)
Flint. 1953.5: SE 67985790
Y.M.
155. Saxton
Y.M.
156. Scagglethorpe
Ancuba Farm
Scarborough M.
157. Scampston
Evans, 126
158. Scampston
449, 1948
Y.M.
159. Scawton
Flint
Y.M.
160. Scriven
THE PREHISTORY OF THE VALE OF YORK
17
161. Scriven
162. Sessay
163. Shipton (E.R.)
164. Shipton
165. Shipton
166. Skelton on Ure
167. Skipton on Swale
168. Skipwith
169. Skipwith
170. South Cave
1 71. South Cave
172. Sowerby
173. Sowerby
174. Stanley
175. Stanley
176. Stanley
177. Strensall
178. Tadcaster
179. Terrington
180. Thirkleby
1 8 1 . Thirsk
182. Tholthorp
183. Thornbrough
183a. Thorner
184. Thornton le Clay
185. Topcliffe
186. Topcliffe
187. Topcliffe
188. Wakefield, Avondale St.
189. Wakefield, Roman Camp Farm
190. Walton
190a. Walton
191. Wath
192. West Tanfield
193. Westow
194. Wheldrake, opp. church
195. Wheldrake, W. end of village
196. Whit well
197. Whitwell
198. Wilber foss
199. Wilberfoss
200. Yearsley
201. York, Viking Road
202. York, Micklegate Bar
203. York, railway excavations
204. York, Dringhouses
205. York, Holgate
206. York, The Mount
207. York, Dringhouses
208. York, Dringhouses
208a. York, Dringhouses
209. York, Gale Lane
210. York, Gale Lane
211. York
212. York
213. York
214. York
214a. York
215-21. York. Hoard
222. York, High Ousegate
Found 1939: SE 447750
N.FT. Naturalist XV (1940-1), 52
N.W. Naturalist XV (1940-1), 52
N. W. Naturalist XV (1940-1), 52
YAJ XXXVI (1918), 130-1: SE 362679
Flint. 1953-3
265, 1948
268, 1948
Flint adze. 300.42.69
300.42.70
Found 1957. Flint - only edge polished:
SE 44267926
1952.5
Walker, History of Wakefield , fig. 8 A
Walker, History of Wakefield, fig. 8B
Walker, History of Wakefield, fig. 8D
300.42.177
420, 1948
Evans, 122
1954
Flint. 1951. 39; SE 461672
YAJ 1963, 14
Found 1972
Flint. 1954. 5
SE 41967941
75.4.3.161
75-4-3-I54
SE 330201
YAJ XLIV (1971), 1
Found 1971
75.4.3.155
1877 1-25. 1
Flint axe/pick
Flint: SE 68334495
Flint: SE 67604465
330, 1948
Chisel. Sturge Coll.
300.42.257
300.42.261
YAJ XXXVII (1952-5), 359
SE 572520
1952. 19. 1. 2: SE 598515
Cook MS. 1872, PI. 1, no. 1: SE 596520
Ibid., no. 7: SE 588499
Benson, York I, 5: SE 592512
Ibid.: SE 593 51 1
443, 1948: SE 597497
444, 1948: SE 597497
445, 1948: SE 597497
10, 1948: SE 573507
11, 1948: SE 573507
B 1951.2594
477, 1948
1022, 1948
1565, 1948
1972.7
6 flint, 1 stone with 25 other flint tools.
446-7, 1948: SE 582527
SE 60355170
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Hull M
Hull M
Y.M.
Hull M.
Easingwold Sch.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Harrogate M.
Private coll.
Y.M.
Priva e coll.
B.M.
B.M.
Wakefield M.
Wakefield M.
Private coll.
B.M.
B.M.
York Castle M.
Wheldrake Sch.
Wheldrake Sch.
Y.M.
B.M.
Hull M.
Hull M.
Private coll.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Hunterian M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
A . Flat Axes
1. Dalton, nr. Thirsk
2. Goole
3. Scackleton
4. Wakefield
5. York
2. Bronze Implements from the Vale of York
YAJ XXIX, 359
Mortimer M., M2
Hull M.
Wakefield M.
1033, 1948 Y.M.
i8
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Fig. 2.
Distribution map of bronze implements.
6. York
1183, 1948
Y.M.
7. York, Knavesmire
Stukeley’s Letters III, 348: SE 591502
8. Vale of York
1242, 1948
Y.M.
9. York (nr.)
B. Winged Axes
Arch.J. XIX, 363. With chevron decora-
tion, lost
B.M.
i. Baldersby
See below, hoards
Y.M.
2. Brompton
WG. 1827
B.M.
3. Bulmer
WG. 1834
B.M.
4. Dalton, nr. Thirsk
51/23
Y.M.
5. Gilberdyke
1123, 1948
Y.M.
6. Healaugh
Wood, Archaeology of Nidderdale, 25-6
Private coll.
7. Holme on Spalding Moor
Mortimer M . , 1 8 1 1
Hull M.
8. Kirby Wiske
819.38
Scarborough M.
9. Marton le Moor
1122, 1948
Y.M.
10. Northallerton
Greenwell Coll. 75.4.3.167: SE 361941
B.M.
1 1 . Rainton cum Newby
Ripon M.
12. Ripon
1955-51
Y.M.
BRONZE IMPLEMENTS
in the Vale of York
X - hoards
i i 5 miles
THE PREHISTORY OF THE VALE OF YORK
*9
13. Sand Hutton (nr. Thirsk)
14. Sessay
15. Snape
16. Stanley
17. Staveley
18. Stillington
19. Sutton on Derwent
20. York (nr.)
21. York (nr.)
C. Socketed Axes
1 . Acklam
2. Baldersby
3. Barmby Moor
4. Barmby Moor
5 . Everthorpe
6. Hovingham
7. Hovingham
8. Leeds
9. Leeds, Roundhay Park
10. Leeds
1 1 . Millington
12. Myton
13. Newbald
14. North Cave
1 5 . Ripley
16. Ripon
17. Skipton on Swale
18. Stanwick
19. Tadcaster
20. Tanfield
21. Thirsk
22. Thorner
23. Topcliffe
24. Wakefield
25. York, The Mount
26. York, Cemetery
27. York, Cemetery
28. York
29. York
30. York (at or nr.)
31. York (at or nr.)
D. Palstaves
1. Baldersby
2. Bishopthorpe
3. Bolton Percy
4. Clifton Without
5. Cundall
6. Everingham
7. Everthorpe
8. Howden
9. Long Marston
10. Morley
11. Ripon
12. Ripon
13. Sessay
14. Tadcaster
15. Tadcaster
16. Thirsk
17. Thornton le Clay
18. Wakefield
19. York
20. York
21. York, Fulford
E. Other Bronzes
1 . Broomfleet
2. Elloughton
3. Goodmanham
Mortimer M., 106: SE 448754
Mortimer M., 168
117, 1948
53.11-15, 10
53.11-15, 11
Middlesbrough M.
Y.M.
Hull M
Hull M
B.M.
B.M.
See below, hoards
W. D. W. Rees, History of Barmby Moor
(1911), 7
Found 1956: SE 795485
Mortimer M., 92
15, 1948
16, 1948
D252. 1964
PYGS 9 (1887), 431
YAJ XXIX, 359
Mortimer M., 147
Marked on Elgee’s map
PSA Newcastle, 3rd s. I, 64
1937.12- 17.1
Mortimer M.
SL 238
1879 WG.2002
1146, 1948: SE 593511
WG.2010: SE 610508
WG.2011
J-93-507
YMH (1891), 205
53.12- 24, 1. Waste metal in socket
Henderson gift
Hull M
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Leeds M.
Sheffield M.
B.M.
B.M.
Cast in Harrogate M.
Y.M.
Middlesbrough M.
B.M.
Hull M.
B.M.
B.M.
Wakefield M.
Y.M.
B.M.
B.M.
Sheffield M.
B.M.
B.M.
See below, hoards Y.M.
1319, 1948 Y.M.
73. 12-9. 172 B.M.
YAJ XU (1966), 556
Evans (1881), 86
Found 1949: SE 81064107
PYGS 7 (1881), 406
1955.5. 1
1955-5-2
Found 1939
1945. 1
1954.10: SE 49074363
WG.1824
1132, 1948
YMH (1891), 204
J. 93. 488: SE 610490
Private coll.
St. Albans M.
Otley Mechs. Inst.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Hull M.
B.M.
Wakefield M.
Y.M.
Sheffield M.
Socketed gouge. Mortimer M., 72
Dagger, WG.2019 B.M.
Ear-ring. Evans (1881), 392
20
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
4. Leeds
5. Leeds, Chapel Allerton
6. Norinanton
7. Ripon
8. Whenby
F. Hoards
1 . Acklam
2. Baldersby
3. Barwick
4. Bilton
5 . Elloughton
6. Everthorpe
7. Hotham
Shield. R. Thoresby, Ducatus Leodensis,
565
Dagger Leeds M.
Dagger. Walker, History of Wakefield, 15:
SE 392243
Sword. ? Iron Age, on Elgee’s map
Sword. Found 1945 Y.M.
Found i860
Found 1881. 1 socketed axe, 1 palstave, 3 Y.M.
flanged axes, 1 ring, 2 stone axes
Found c. 1675. 5-6 socketed axes
Found 1848. 6 socketed axes, 7 spears, 2
swords: SE 489502
Found 1719. A bushel of socketed axes
Found 1842. 16 socketed axes, 1 gouge, FIull M.
waste fragments: SE 907320
9+ palstaves, 1 palstave mould.
Fig. 3. Distribution map of axe-hammers.
THE PREHISTORY OF THE VALE OF YORK
21
8. Leeds, Roundhay
9. Leeds, Roundhay
10. Leeds, Churwell
11. Leeds, Hunslett
12. Kirk Deighton
13. Pocklington
14. Scrayingham
15. Sheriff Hutton
16. Stanley
17. Ulleskelf
18. Westow
19. Yearsley
20. York, Cemetery
21. York, railway
Found 1905. 6 palstaves, 3 survive - D231,
0232a, b. 1964
Found 1846. 3 spears, 5 palstaves
1 socketed axe, 9 palstaves
Found 1955. 1 socketed axe, 3 spearheads:
SE 400510
Found 1958-9. 3 socketed axes 1972.9
7 socketed axes
Found 1823. 16 socketed axes
Found pre 1841. 6 socketed axes, 2 pal-
staves. SE 355231
Found 1849. 2 socketed axes, 1 palstave
Found 1846. 47 socketed axes, 6 gouges, 3
chisels, 1 palstave, 1 knife, 1 dagger, waste
bronze: SE 759661
Found 1735. Nearly 100 socketed axes,
waste bronze
WG.2010-11: SE 610508
Many socketed axes found 1847. Now
lost: SE 594517
Leeds M.
Y.M.
Harrogate M.
Y.M.
Leeds M.
Salisbury M.
Y.M.
B.M.
Liverpool M.
3. Axe Hammers from the Vale of York
1. Bardsey-cum-Rigton. W.R.
2. Carthorpe. N.R.
3. Catton. E.R.
4. Dishforth. W.R.
5. Elvington. E.R.
6. Gate Helmsley. E.R.
7. Harrogate. W.R.
8. Holme-on-Spalding Moor. E.R.
9. Hotham. E.R.
10. Kirklington. N.R.
11. Knaresborough. W.R.
12. Leeds. W.R.
13. Markington. W.R.
14. Marton-cum-Grafton. W.R.
15. Morley. W.R.
16. Newton-on-Derwent. E.R.
17. Normanton. W.R.
18. North Rigton. W.R.
19. Norton-le-Clay. N.R.
20. Pilmoor. N.R.
21. Poppleton. W.R.
22. Raskelf. N.R.
23. Raskelf. N.R.
24. Ripon area. W.R.
25. Saxton. W.R.
26. Scackleton. N.R.
27. Sheriff Hutton. N.R.
28. Sheriff Hutton. N.R.
29. Sheriff Hutton. N.R.
29a. Sherburn in Elmet
29b. South Milford
29c. Strensall
30. Thorpe-le-Willows. N.R.
31. Wakefield. W.R.
32. Wilberfoss. E.R.
33. Skelton. ? which
34. Spofforth. W.R.
35. Stanley
36. Strensall
37. York
38. York
39. York
40. York
from Wike: SE 338421
Breace House Farm
from High Catton
Beaker type. BM. 754. 3.161
S. of Manor Farm. c. SE. 698468
500' S.W. of Railway Bridge. YM. 1957.4
Haverah Park
Beacon Hill. Beaker type. 1922.3. 1
The Carrs. 300.42.299
Basalt. Evans. Fig. 137
Blind Lane Farm.
VCH. 1.411, PYGS. 1887. p- 430. fd. 1879
? macehead. Lukis Coll.
1041.1948
SE 26652585; D. 140. 1964
1041.1948
from Altofts. D. 139. 1964
1023.1948
Evans, p. 191
1052.1948
1029.1948
Peep o’Day Farm
5 axe-hammers; no detail
Hourglass perforation
Evans, p. 190-1
Beaker type
Waisted type. 1019.1948
Destroyed
Milford Hagg Farm. YAJ. XLIV (1971) 2
1972.8
1972.12
from Thorpe Grange. SE 579770- Y.A.J.
1965
Denby Dale Road
from Caddon Park
1876.4.10, 39
Roman Camp Farm
Y.P.S. Rept. 1905. p. 50 (same as Benson
1.5, 1911?)
Scarcroft Road. 1020.1948
1022.1948
1032.1948
1067.1948
Leeds M.
Ripon M.
Castle M., York
B.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Harrogate M.
B.M.
Hull M.
Harrogate M.
Ripon M.
Y.M.
Leeds M.
Y.M.
Leeds M.
Harrogate M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
? Leeds M.
Ripon M.
Harrogate M.
Preston M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Wakefield M.
Castle M., York
B.M.
Harrogate M.
Wakefield M.
? Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
Y.M.
22
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
From the Vale of York
1 . Aireborough
2. Boroughbridge
3. Cawood
4. Ripon (nr.)
5. Studley Hall
From the rest of Yorkshire
6. Arras
7. Boltby Scar
8. Bowes
9. Cottingham
10. Embsay
11. Greta Bridge
12. High Hunsley
13. Kelley thorpe
14. Rawden
15. Scalby
16. Swinton
17. Yeadon
4. Gold Ornaments
Torque. Found 1781. Loidis and Elmete
(1816), 211-12
Torque
Ring. Elgee, 173
2 rings. Camden, 1780. ed., IV, 231
Torque. Found 1818
Ring. ? Iron Age. Mortimer 374, Stead,
102, 117: SE 930513
Basket ear-rings
6 rings. Found 1850. YAf 22, 409
4 armlets
Torque
Ring
Bracelet. Found 1967: SE 956356
Rivets in wristguard. Mortimer, 274.
TA 01705668
Torque. Found 1781
Torque. Found 1843
Bracelet. Found 1815
Torque. Elgee, 175
Y.M.
B.M.
B.M.
Hull M
Scarborough M.
23
ECOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT
A ROMANO-BRITISH EARTHWORK
IN THE YORKSHIRE PENNINES
By Heather M. Tinsley and Richard T. Smith
Summary An earthwork of Romano-British affinity is described from the West Riding of Yorkshire^ Pollen
analyses have been carried out in order to identify vegetation and land use changes occurring both before and
after construction of the earthwork. Soil analyses have permitted an explanation of stratification within the inner
mound, of ancient buried soil characteristics and of subsequent soil evolution in the area. Treated together with
the remaining structures a possible function for the site is discussed. Evidence so far assembled suggests that use
of the earthwork continued until the Anglian period.
I
Introduction
Fortress Dike Camp is sited on the gently sloping eastern margins of Carle Moor
(SE 179732), at an altitude of 259 m, 4‘8 km west of the village of Laverton in the West
Riding of Yorkshire. The site lies within heather moorland, at the side of a stream known
as Fortress Dike, with the upward limit of improved pasture some 300 metres from the
24
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
earthwork (Fig. i). It was considered that an examination of this site and the analysis of
soil and peat layers associated with it, might reveal information about its age, the nature
of activities associated with its construction, and the course of vegetation and soil develop-
ment in the immediate vicinity.1
Fig. 2. Plan of earthwork.
The earthwork is sub-rectangular, enclosing an area of about three quarters of a hectare,
or just over one and a half acres (Fig. 2). It is surrounded on three sides by an inner and
outer bank with an intervening ditch. The maximum height of the banks above the ditch
level (in the south-west corner) is 2-5 m, 1.5 m above the surrounding ground surface. The
southern margin of the enclosure is markedly convex and where structures are still visible
the corners are seen to be curved. On the fourth side no ditch is visible and only a slight
break of slope testifies to the former existence of a bank. On the western margin there are
two distinct breaks in the rampart; a stream passes through the larger of these and flows
east, parallel with the northern rampart. This gap is also utilized by a track which crosses
the enclosure and passes through the southern rampart at which point there is what appears
to be an original entrance as suggested by the inturned banks. Traces of a low mound
30 m long can be detected within the enclosure parallel to the northern margin. Impressions
of a circular structure which is conceivably a hut foundation lie adjacent to the inner
1 Tinsley, H. M., ‘A palynological study of changing woodland limits on the Nidderdale Moors’. Unpublished
Ph.D. Thesis, University of Leeds (1972).
ECOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT A ROMANO-BRITISH EARTHWORK
25
mound in the north-east corner of the enclosure. Similar types of site are not infrequent
on the Pennines but little attention has been paid to their age and function. They have been
loosely associated with agricultural activities.2
ERICACEOUS
PEAT
BURIED ELUVIAL HORIZON
( truncated )
• W*X ISOLATED POLLEN SAMPLES
LENS OF UPCAST
71
//
/ /
1/ /_
WASH FROM UPCAST
BURIED ILLUVIAL HORIZON
CLAY RICH SUBSOIL
mH BASAL ORGANIC HORIZON
BOULDERS
Fig. 3. Excavated section along B-C.
II
Construction and stratigraphy
A trench 1*5 metres wide was cut through the inner bank, the ditch and part of the
outer bank as shown by the line B-C in Fig. 2. This revealed that the banks were formed
from clay subsoil, almost certainly excavated from the ditch. At this section gritstone
boulders, which are abundant on the moor, were aligned along the axis of the inner
mound. A lens of upcast material (Fig. 3) could be clearly recognised. It was 50 cm deep
at the axis of the mound and consisted of heavy clay with frequent lumps of ganister.
This overlay a discontinuous, apparently truncated, grey horizon of leached sand with
a maximum depth of about 15 cm. An isolated pocket of brown earthy material, 2 cm
thick, lay on top of this leached horizon near the centre of the mound. The grey sand
was interpreted in the field as the buried eluvial horizon of an original shallow podzolic
soil, on which the mound had been constructed. Below this a 15 cm-deep, rusty-coloured,
horizon of iron accumulation was evident, becoming grey (gleyed) in the vicinity of the
ditch. There was a comparatively sharp junction between this horizon and the heavy clay
subsoil. The latter contained grey and orange mottles, formed as a result of fluctuations
in ground water level. Soil samples were collected along the line A-A1 and also from sites
W and X shown in Fig. 3.
2 Wood, E. S., Field Guide to Archaeology in Britain (1963)-
26
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
A veec,vP$e''0%
_ § —
71/
>
No pollen
recovered
^ 0 100 V.
0 25 50
% of total pollen
\°C>e
\ “'•'v a
a'-c»Ov .0°
* , vC
D
LI
<?o'
VC
r,o'
• Less than IV. of total pollen
V. of total pollen
Fig. 4. Pollen diagram from the mound.
A thin layer of peat averaging 20 cm in depth covered the surface of the mounds and the
enclosure, while in the ditch, peat had accumulated to a depth of 37 cm at the point of
excavation. The mineral content increased towards the base of the ditch peat and a lens
of clay separated off a lower peat horizon 5 cm deep. This clay band formed the lateral
continuation of a slope-wash deposit which mantled the side of the bank above the ditch.
Table i. SOME COMPARATIVE POLLEN RECORDS
BLEACHED
HORIZON
X
SOIL
40-45 cm
BURIED
HUMUS
W
SOIL
30-35 cm
BASAL PEAT LENS
Y Z MONOLITH
Alnus
6-3
3-2
+
i-8
1-6
3-i
3-6
Betula
9-0
9-6
6-2
4T
4-2
10-3
1-8
Quercus
3-6
i-9
+
+
2-2
2-0
+
Corylus
26-5
33-2
9-2
i-o
8-o
6-8
5-2
Ilex
i-o
2-5
+
+
Gramineae
28-4
26-5
5’3
3‘3
46-6
45-i
42-6
Ericaceae
2-7
n-5
73T
85-9
I9-0
15-8
37-8
Plantago lanceolata
5-6
5‘4
+
1-8
5‘4
4-6
2-4
Taraxacum type
+
2-4
1-8
1-2
Rumex acetosella type
+
i-3
+
Rubiaceae
1-6
+
Ranunculus
+
4-i
+
1-4
i-o
+
Caryophyllaceae
+
+
+
+
+
Succisa
+
+
+
Cereal type
3-o
+
+
Filicales: Dry opteris type
26-2
31-9
i-o
6-o
4-6
7-6
6o-6
Polypodium
ii*3
16-9
+
3-9
+
+
+
Data are percentages of total pollen with + representing values less than 1%.
ECOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT A ROMANO-BRITISH EARTHWORK
27
o°* c°'s \ve+
I
.W0
CZD
0 50 100
7o of total pollen
Fig. 5.
• less than I*/, of total pollen
Pollen diagram from the ditch.
I J
l "1
(=□
D
I
0 50 100
1- — + 1
7. of total pollen
;S<*vP
vv
□
□
0
□
III
Pollen Analysis
A monolith of peat was removed from the ditch infilling and taken to the laboratory for
analysis. Consecutive 5 cm samples of mineral material from the mound were collected
for analysis along the line A-A1 in Fig. 3. The peat samples were prepared according to
standard techniques by digesting in 10% sodium hydroxide, sieving, centrifuging and
staining with safranin.3 Samples of soil were boiled in hydrofluoric acid to dissolve
mineral particles. 500 grains of all pollen types excluding spores were counted for each
sample except for certain of the soil horizons where pollen was very scarce, but no counts
are based on less than 300 grains. The results are presented in Figs. 4 and 5.
For correlative purposes two mineral samples were analysed from points W and X in
Fig. 3. An organic lens, identified beneath a clay horizon at the base of the ditch monolith,
was exposed at two other sites on the earthwork margin (Y and Z, Fig. 2), and material
from these exposures was also analysed. The results of these analyses are shown in Table 1,
which includes, for comparison, data from selected horizons of the pollen diagrams.
Interpretation of the pollen records
In the pollen diagram for the soil section (Fig. 4) the pollen spectra of the three samples
between 55 and 40 cm. (the rusty and bleached layers), suggest a partially cleared woodland
environment. Alnus (alder) and Betula (birch) are present, Corylus (hazel) is important
and the Gramineae (grasses) are well represented. The relatively high pollen percentages
of Plant ay 0 lanceolata (ribwort plantain) and certain other weeds including the
Caryophyllaceae (stitchwort), Succisa (scabious) type and Ranunculus (buttercup) suggest
3 Faegri, K. and Iversen, J., A Textbook of Pollen Analysis. Blackwell Scientific Publications (Oxford, 1964)-
Smith, R. T., ‘Some Refinements in the Technique of Pollen and Spore Extraction from Soil’. Laboratory
Practice, 15(10) (1966), pp. 1 120-3.
28
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
human interference in this woodland. A high percentage of fern spores in these lower
horizons is probably not ecologically significant and may reflect preferential decay of
other pollen types.4 The samples of partially bleached material from 30-40 cm show a
reduction in arboreal pollen to negligible amounts; pollen of the Ericaceae (heaths)
increases dramatically and Plantago lanceolata is well represented. No pollen was recovered
from the lower part of the horizon interpreted as upcast (Fig. 3) and therefore there is a
break in the pollen record above 30 cm. The top 15 cm of the mound capping has a uniform
pollen spectrum with large quantities of Betula pollen. Corylus and the Gramineae are
also well represented, which suggests a birch woodland with an open canopy. The pollen
of Plantago lanceolata and other weeds is reduced in comparison with the lower horizons,
but pollen of the Ericaceae increases in importance in the top sample.
The pollen diagram for the ditch monolith is illustrated in Fig. 5. The spectrum from the
basal peat lens indicates an open environment, the pollen of the Gramineae and the
Ericaceae are important, with arboreal pollen less than 10% of the total. Plantago lanceolata
is well represented and the pollen of other weeds such as Taraxacum (dandelion), Ranunculus
and the Rubiaceae (bedstraw) also occurs/ This horizon, which also contains cereal pollen,
has been radiocarbon dated to a.d. 63O1E90 (Gak 3851).
Buried
Fig. 6. Ignited soil sequence A-A1 showing podzolization of buried soil.
A clay horizon separates the basal peat lens from the main peat accumulation above.
In this clay and the overlying peat, arboreal pollen increases, and at 36 cm Betula pollen
reaches a maximum of 50% total pollen and fragments of birch bark and wood are present.
Corylus is also well represented and grains of Ilex aquifolium (holly) are common. The
pollen of the Gramineae and Ericaceae is reduced and the weed component becomes
insignificant. At 32 cm, Betula and Corylus pollen begins to decline and that of the
Ericaceae increases dramatically. From 25 cm to the surface of the peat, arboreal pollen
remains below 12% of total pollen and the Ericaceae maintain their importance. In the
upper horizons spores of Pteridium aquilinum (bracken) occur in large numbers.
4 Pennington, W., ‘Re-interpretation of some Post-glacial Vegetation Diversities at Different Lake District
Sites’, Proc. Roy. Soc. B161 (1965), pp. 310-25.
Smith, R. T., ‘Studies in the Post-glacial soil and vegetation history of the Aberystwyth area’. Unpublished
Ph.D. Thesis, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (1970).
ECOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT A ROMANO-BRITISH EARTHWORK
29
IV
Soil Analysis
A continuous vertical series of samples was collected from the mound section along
A— A1. These were oven-dried, crushed and then ignited in a furnace at 45° the results
being displayed in Fig. 6. Larger samples were extracted from the four distinct horizons
in the mound together with two from material which appeared to have been washed from
the original mound. These six samples were subjected to a particle size determination by
a combined pipette and dry sieving method.5 Oven-dried samples were lightly crushed
and passed through a 2 mm sieve. 50 g portions were treated with hydrogen peroxide
and then dispersed with sodium hexametaphosphate before starting the sedimentation.
The results are presented in Figs. 7 and 8.
Interpretation of soil data
In cases where soil is affected by gleying or organic staining - especially when such
features affect limited portions of soil profiles - it becomes hazardous to estimate the
genetic soil type from field inspection alone. Furthermore buried soil materials should not
necessarily be expected to remain in their pristine state for many centuries save under the
most favourable circumstances. With this in mind the ignition sequence shows that the
buried bleached (and somewhat gleyed) layer was certainly the eluvial horizon of a podzol.
The fact that subsequent podzolization of mound capping is barely perceptible may be
a function of time, yet could be dependent on the previous enrichment of this material
in iron oxides and clay.
It seems likely that the near absence of raw humus above the buried podzol, together
with obvious truncation of this soil, indicates some disturbance of the old ground surface
prior to mound construction. This could easily have been associated with the location of
heavy boulders. In view of the water-table height beneath the mound it is thought that
the former was raised through mound construction and has now caused excessive iron-
enrichment of the buried illuvial horizon.
In Fig. 7, curve 1 represents mound capping and curve 4 the clay subsoil, while curves
2 and 3 represent respectively the buried eluvial and iron-rich illuvial horizons. The
almost identical paths followed by the former support the initial assumption that the
capping comprises subsoil from the vicinity of the present ditch. In addition, curves 2, 3
and 4 form a pedogenic gradient illustrating the former movement of clay from the
eluvial horizon. In the absence of an obvious buried humus layer this evidence reinforces
the case for the buried soil beyond doubt. Furthermore, when the sample from the eluvial
horizon was ignited the loss in weight was considerably greater than for the adjacent
layers. When treated with peroxide, sulphurous gases were evolved indicating a concen-
tration of sulphides in the sample. Although fragmentation of the buried eluvial horizon
suggests interference, it is equally clear that anaerobic decomposition of an original humus
could have led to the observed presence of sulphides.
Curves 5 and 6 (in Fig. 8) are somewhat similar, both representing a coarser over-all
texture than the mound capping. While undoubtedly derived from the mound it is likely
that the clay component has more readily washed into the ditch. Curve 4 material is 0-5 m
nearer the ditch axis, but while it has a slightly higher clay content it is unfortunately not
clear whether this is a depositional feature or developed through gleying. In view of the
limits of accuracy of the technique, such small variations must be regarded as barely
significant. The relatively smooth form of the latter two curves is similar to those which
have previously been interpreted as evidence of mixing, characteristic of flood loams and
5 Piper, C. S., Soil and plant analysis (Adelaide, 1947).
30
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Figs. 7 and 8. Mechanical analyses.
wash deposits.6 Complete smoothing would be the exception, and in this instance the
local Millstone Grit provides a high proportion of medium sand grade as shown by the
inflection on the cumulative curve.
V
Discussion
The earliest pollen record, in the lower horizons of the buried soil, indicates partially
cleared woodland (Fig. 4 and sample X, Table 1). At this stage, before the earthwork was
6 Cornwall, I. W., ‘Soil Science and Archaeology with Illustrations from some British Bronze Age Monuments’,
Proc. Prehist. Soc. 19 (1953), pp. 129-47; Cornwall, I. W., Soils for the Archaeologist (London, 1958).
ECOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT A ROMANO-BRITISH EARTHWORK
31
built, it appears that the surrounding area was already being used by man. High
percentages of weed pollen, particularly of Plantago lanceolata, suggest pastoral activity.
However the pollen of cereals and other indicators of cultivation are absent.
Today, podzolic soils in the immediate vicinity of the earthwork have eluvial horizons
which are on average 30 cm deep. It appears that up to the time when the earthwork was
built a shallow podzol had evolved, with an eluvial horizon about 15 cm deep. The pocket
of dark earthy material from which sample W was extracted, appears to be all that remains
of the buried surface layer of raw humus normally associated with podzols. The pollen
record from this sample is similar to that in the sample from 40-30 cm in the soil
section, and, significantly, is dominated by the Ericaceae. The change from open woodland
to heath implies an edaphic deterioration which could be attributable to man’s activities
as pastoralist.7 It was after the initial expansion of this heath that the earthwork was
constructed, presumably during a period of increased pressure on land. The form of the
earthwork with its inner and outer banks, its sub-rectangular shape and surviving inturned
entrance suggests construction during the Romano-British period.8
An Iron Age date has been postulated for an enclosure similar to Fortress Dike Camp,
on Roomer Common near the river Ure (SE 22527883), 8 kilometres north-east of this
site9 and defensive structures at Cast Hills, Laverton, 3 kilometres from Fortress Dike
Camp (Fig. 1) are thought also to have Iron Age affinities.10 Fortress Dike is also similar
to a number of sites in South Wales, for instance those on the hills above Port Talbot,
Glamorgan, which could be described as offering ‘minimum protection’ as distinct from
being ‘defensive’ and which probably reflect a rather marginal form of agriculture.* 11
The pollen spectrum from the basal organic lens in the ditch (Sample Y and Z, and the
basal monolith sample) postdates the construction of the earthwork. The spectrum is
characterised by high frequencies of the pollen of Plantago lanceolata and other weeds
generally regarded as indicators of pastoral land use. The reduced pollen values for the
Ericaceae, high Gramineae values and the occurrence of charcoal fragments in these
samples may indicate that periodic efforts were made to control the heath by setting it on
fire. Furthermore, the presence of cereal pollen indicates that there was certainly cultivation
nearby. Cereals, with the exception of rye, are self-pollinated and liberate only small
quantities of pollen, so that 3% cereal pollen in sample Y should be regarded as highly
significant. It is possible that the organic material at the base of the ditch could have been
derived by erosion of the raw humus which appears to have covered the ground surface
at the time when the earthwork was constructed. In this case the organic content of the
lens would predate construction of the earthwork. However, this is thought to be very
unlikely in the light of detailed comparisons between pollen spectra from the lens and from
the upper horizons of the buried soil. There are significant differences in the proportions
of Ericaceae and Gramineae pollen in these two horizons (80-90% Ericaceae in the buried
soil surface, 27% in the basal organic lens; 10% Gramineae in the buried soil surface,
32% in the basal organic lens). A variety of weed pollen types and the pollen of cereals
occur in the basal orgznic lens yet are not represented in the buried soil. In addition, the
high concentration of charcoal in the material at the base of the ditch has no counterpart
in the buried soil horizons. It is therefore considered that the organic lens represents a
cultural phase which postdates the construction of the earthwork.
The basal organic lens is very thin and the record for this agricultural phase finishes
7 Dimbleby, G. W., Development of British Heathlands and their Soils, Oxf. For. Mem. 23 (1962), has noted similar
sequences of change associated with Bronze Age activities in the North York Moors.
8 Hartley, B. R., Private communication, 1972.
9 Ordnance Survey (1962) Archaeological Card Index, West Riding of Yorkshire.
10 Ordnance Survey (1963) Archaeological Card Index, SE 27SW.
11 An example is that of Caer Blaen-y-Cwm (SS 833881), No. 657 in Glamorgan, Vol. I, compiled by R.C.A.M.
Houlder, C. H. (R.C.A.M., Aberystwyth) - private communication.
32
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
abruptly at the level where the peat lens is overlain by clay. The date of a.d. 630^:90
for the agricultural phase may then indicate the most recent period of intensive use of the
site and it is conceivable that deposits associated with earlier occupations have been
destroyed by periodic ditch renovation.
The isolated position of the earthwork and the lack of any obvious hut structures or
artifacts suggest that it could have functioned as an animal pound, although it is fair to
say that timber or turf huts would effectively disappear after more than a thousand years.
The stream which passes through the enclosure (Fig. 2) and which appears from field
examination to have existed before the earthwork’s construction may conceivably
have played a role in relation to the animal hypothesis. If this interpretation is sustained,
the enclosure may have been used for the protection of stock during times of stress from
the Romano-British period until the seventh century a.d. The termination of the most
recent phase around a.d. 630 happens to correspond to the period of the Anglian invasion
of Yorkshire, which must have resulted in considerable disruption to rural life. According
to Jones,12 Bede described how in a.d. 603 Ethelfrid of Northumbria ‘overran a greater
area than any other Kings or chiefs, exterminating or enslaving the (British) inhabitants,
extorting tribute and annexing their lands for the English’.
The pollen assemblage in the clay which overlies the organic lens is similar to that in
the upper part of the mound, from which it may be derived by erosion. It is therefore
possible that the chronological vegetation sequence illustrated by the ditch pollen diagram
may be disturbed at this point. However, the high Betula and Corylus pollen frequencies
are continued in the overlying peat which accumulated in situ. The regeneration suggested
by this pollen assemblage must therefore have taken place after the agricultural phase which
bears the approximate date of a.d. 630. The presence of birch macro-remains within the
peat supports this view. The pollen of Plantago lanceolata and other weeds is greatly reduced
in this regeneration phase and the cereal record ceases. This regeneration of woodland is
unusual as it represents a temporary reversal of the trend towards reduction of trees and
establishment of heath. This may perhaps be a function of the marginal-upland location
of this archaeological site, as at all other sites studied on these moors the initial expansion
of heath is observed to continue practically unchecked to the present.
It is interesting to note that this woodland regeneration on Carle Moor and surrounding
areas is reflected by some Anglian and Norse place-names. The Anglian name ‘Shaws’,
a woodland, occurs on Carle Moor between 260 and 320 metres elevation. The same
element suggests that trees once grew in Ellershaw Gill, draining Stock Beck Moor and
lying to the north of Carle Moor. The element ‘stock’, a stump, is indicative of woodland
clearance during Anglian times. On the same stretch of moorland the Norse element ‘with’,
a wood, occurs in Sandwith Wham and Bagwith Brae; The Norse element ‘carr’, wet
land overgrown with brushwood, also occurs on Stock Beck Moor at How Carr.
The pollen record from the ditch peat suggests that at some time following the Norse
and Anglian period heath was re-established around the site of Fortress Dike Camp and
a thin, highly humified peat cover began to develop over all the structures.
VI
Conclusions
The earthwork described in this paper appears to date from the Romano-British period
but was utilised sporadically into the Dark Ages. The variation in intensity of land use
around Fortress Dike Camp had important effects on the surrounding vegetation. In
addition, differentiation of soil horizons has certainly intensified with time leading to clay
accumulation at depth and perhaps to enhanced surface peat development even though
12 Jones, G. R. J., ‘Basic patterns of settlement distribution in northern England’, Advancement of Science, 18 (1961),
pp. 192-200.
ECOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT A ROMANO-BRITISH EARTHWORK
33
the surrounding land may at one time have been desirable for arable farming. It is clear
however, that the abandonment of the site and the final establishment of heath were
separated by a distinctive interval of time.13
13 The authors acknowledge with gratitude the cooperation of Mr G. Bostock in allowing access to this site and
to the Department of the Environment for approving the investigation. Excavations at the site were carr*ed
out in October 1971 with the help of students from the University of Leeds. Grateful thanks are due to Mr
B. R. Hartley of the Department of Latin and Mr G. R. J. Jones of the Department of Geography, University
of Leeds for their advice at various stages and for their helpful comments on an earlier manuscript.
34
LOW CAYTHORPE, EAST YORKSHIRE
— THE MANOR SITE
By Glyn Coppack
Summary Excavation of part of the manor site at Low Caythorpe revealed a building, originally of the late Saxon
period, replaced in stone during the twelfth century, rebuilt in the fourteenth century and, after alteration,
abandoned in the sixteenth century.
The deserted medieval village of Low Caythorpe is situated to the south of the road
B1253, 1300 yds. to the west of Boynton village and 3000 yds. to the east of Rudston,
at TA 121678, in the civil parish of Rudston (Fig. 1). The remains are divided by a track
leading to Low Caythorpe farm. To the east of the track, contained within a massive
earthwork approximately 250 yds. square, is the site of the manor. The village itself lies to
the west of the trackway, strung out along an earlier course of the present road, the line
of which was modified in the later eighteenth century. The village was mentioned in the
Domesday survey of 1086, and for the greater part of its recorded history was part of the
estates of St. Mary’s Abbey, York. The date of desertion came some time after 1600,
when two families were resident. These two families are not referred to afterwards. There
had been partial enclosure and depopulation before 1517.1
Surface indications show that within the great earthwork which surrounded the manor
was a smaller banked enclosure, with a gateway in the centre of the north side. Buildings
were grouped in three ranges about the east, south, and west sides of this enclosure, although
1 Victoria County History, Yorkshire, East Riding II (1974), p. 315.
LOW CAYTHORPE, EAST YORKSHIRE - THE MANOR SITE
35
it was not possible to interpret their layout, as many tons of farm refuse had been tipped
over the south range and parts of the east wing.
From 1962 until 1966 excavations were carried out on the manor site by the Bridlington
School Archaeological Society, first under the direction of Mr. R. T. Hall, and from
1964 by the writer. A section was cut through the outer bank and ditch in 1962-3, 2 and
in 1963 work began on the northern part of the east range of buildings. One unit of this
range was fully excavated, and the presence of a further adjoining building to the south
was noted. The structure excavated has for reference been called Building i.3
2 The results of this excavation are to be published by Mr R. T. Hall.
3 Further excavation of this range is intended and the number series of buildings will ultimately be extended.
I should like to thank for their continued support and assistance, Mr O. W. Sellars of Low Caythorpe Farm
for permission to excavate, Mr R. T. Hall for the use of his notes and records and for general advice, and Mr
C. H. Ball, whose unflagging support and interest made a protracted excavation possible, and who provided
facilities for the initial preparation of this report. Mr D. Johnson acted as assistant supervisor and photographer
for the greater part of the excavation. I am most grateful to Messrs J. G. Hurst and T. C. M. Brewster for their
continued support and encouragement. Mr. A. M. Berry kindly drew Fig. 1.
36
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
The Site (Figs. 2 and 3)
Excavation revealed a building with five phases of development, all approximately on
the same alignment. Although the earlier phases were cut about by later rebuildings,
enough remained to recover the general plan of this part of the east range throughout its
history.
Phase A
The inner enclosure bank of the manor was sectioned, proving it to be earlier
stratigraphically than any of the building phases excavated. It consisted of a ditchless
bank of chalk rubble, chalk-derived gravel, clay and sand. Within the bank were found
four sherds representing two vessels, most probably of Middle Saxon date (Fig. 4, nos. 1
and 2). Whether these sherds date the bank or whether they are residual will only be
proved by further excavation.
Aligned parallel to the Phase A bank and lying over its foot was a timber-framed wattle
and daub structure, dating to the late Saxon period. The only associated finds were scraps
of pottery and bone-work of general late Saxon character. The fact that scraps of pottery
were found within the foundations of the walls of this building might suggest an earlier
building on the site. The excavated structure may have been occupied until the twelfth
century, when it was burned, firing the daub to a brick-like consistency.
The structure was aligned roughly north-south, and lay on the surface of the natural
gravelly chalk brash. Little of the structure survived in situ, but considerable quantities
of fallen daub were recovered. From these fragments it would seem that the walls were
LOW CAYTHORPE, EAST YORKSHIRE - THE MANOR SITE J /
framed with roughly-squared posts of 4-6 in. scantling, set at 4-ft. centres. The interven-
ing spaces were filled with panels of daubed wattle. No wood remained even in a
carbonised state. The daub was made up of chalky clay tempered with chopped straw and
containing many grain impressions.1 The surface was plastered with a slurry of the same
The^uilding averaged 12 ft. in width, but as the north end had been cut away at a
later date, it was impossible to determine its length. A thin deposit of occupation debris
remained at the southern end (Floor 1). The fragmentary structure gave no clue as to the
position of the door.
Ph\nthc later twelfth century a building with stone footings was erected on the site of
the Phase B structure, approximately on the same alignment. The south end ot t is
building was well preserved, the west wall standing to a height of three courses of roughly-
squared chalk blocks. In the south-west corner a doorway with chalk ashlar jambs was
located. The jambs were rounded and somewhat worn. There was no door-sill, but the
floor (Floor 2) was continued to the outer jamb. The floor was of packed dirty brown
clay, and what remained of it at the southern end of the building had been scoured hollow
Two post-holes, re-cut in the next phase, seem to have held posts supporting the root
trusses, at 10-ft. centres. Why these posts were provided is uncertain, as a roof of 10 ft. span
should not need any central support, and providing these posts cut down the working
area of the building. The roof may have been tiled, although very few tile fragments were
associated with this phase. 11111 l
This building was slightly off the Phase B alignment, and the early bank had to be cut
away to insert the south end of the east wall. The building was 15 feet wide externally
and approximately 35 ft. long (assuming it to have had three bays of equal size, as suggested
by the roof supports). To the west it faced on to a yard made up of dumped chalk brash
and sandy gravel which contained a few scraps of thirteenth-century pottery. It is presumed
that the whole of the area enclosed by the Phase A bank was laid out as a gravelled yard
at this time.
The first half of the fourteenth century saw a further rebuilding. The Phase C building
was swept away and a new structure was erected on the site. In previous phases the building
had stood on land that fell away to the south and, to rectify this situation, the northern
part of the site was dug away, whilst the walls of the southern end of the old building were
retained as footings for the new structure. Because of this the old alignment was
maintained. . r 1
The new building measured 15 ft. by 34 ft. externally, and appears to be ot one build
with a further structure to the south. The south end wall is continued beyond the western
limit of the building, and is apparently turning to form an apse. Only the northern face
of this wall has been examined so far, and the associated building has yet to be excavated.
The quality of the masonry used in this rebuilding was excellent throughout, squared
chalk blocks being set in a pebble and marl mortar. The east wall was built up against the
Phase A bank, and the outer face of the west wall was partially buried by raising the level
of the courtyard, which was given a surface of pitched chalk. The strength of construction,
combined with a large quantity of displaced chalk blocks, would suggest that the building
was stone-built throughout, rather than timber-framed on a stone footing. The position
of the doorway still remained in the south-west corner, a little south of its position in
4 Mr R. C. Alvey of Nottingham University has examined samples but reports that no particular grasses or
cereals can be identified.
38
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Fig. 4. Pottery from Building 1 (J).
LOW CAYTHORPE, EAST YORKSHIRE - THE MANOR SITE
39
Phase C and apparently built of jamb-stones robbed from the earlier phase. The doorway
of Phase C was carefully filled to the sill level of the new door, and a new floor (Floor 3)
was laid to raise the southern part of the building to the new Phase D level.
Most probably this building had a tiled roof, as considerable quantities of broken plain
and green-glazed tiles were found in the construction and demolition levels of this phase.
A large number of iron nails were found, also indicating a tiled roof, as one tile was still
with a nail in its fixing hole. As in Phase C, two posts were set in the floor at 10-ft. centres
to support the roof trusses. Between these posts a considerable amount of ash and a patch
of burnt clay represented an open hearth.
Despite the support given to both lateral walls, there seems to have been some later
structural failure. The west wall was distorted and inclined outwards, whilst the south
wall fractured and was pushed outwards. However, the failure cannot have been con-
sidered serious, since a series of repairs and modifications had later been carried out.
Phase D (a)
The repair of the Phase D structure cannot be closely dated, but the use of brick in
a patch in the east wall would suggest a fifteenth-century date. It would seem that, struc-
turally, the failure of the building was caused by the weight of the roof, and by the
settlement of the two posts supporting the roof trusses. The remedy was to build two
cross-walls, two courses high, on which the supports were placed. They also had the effect
of supporting the west wall, which was cut to bond them in. They did, however, cut
across Floor 3, necessitating the laying over them of a new floor (4), of timber with an
under-floor void. It was not possible to determine the precise nature of this floor, as it
had been badly disturbed during the collapse and robbing of the building. A sandstone
‘trough’ overlay the southern cross-wall, and was fitted with a worked chalk lid, found in
fragments beside it. When Floor 4 had collapsed, the trough had fallen to the north, lying
partly on the cross-wall and partly on Floor 3.
Two clay and sandstone hearths were constructed on the wooden floor, one in the
centre of the room, and one to the north of the door. These, although disturbed by the
collapse of Floor 4, were well stratified above Floor 3. No dateable finds were associated
with either hearth. Both were overlaid by considerable amounts of wood and coal ash.
Indeed, a quantity of coal was found in association with Phases D and D (a).
Pottery evidence suggests that Building 1 was finally abandoned in the early sixteenth
century, and was largely dismantled. Although a considerable number of chalk blocks
were found loose in association with the final phase of occupation, the greater number had
been removed from the site. No complete or restorable tiles were found, again suggesting
demolition. Only residual pottery and a clay pipe stem were found amongst the debris
of robbing. The pipe stem would suggest a date in the late sixteenth century or even later
for the robbing, whilst the north wall and north-east corner were robbed as late as the early
nineteenth century. Here a distinct robber trench was noted, containing in the back-fill
fragments of stock-brick and pantiles identical to those used in the present buildings of
Low Caythorpe Farm.
The Finds
A. Pottery (Fig. 4)
1 . Hand-made jar in a hard, smooth, buff fabric with a dark grey core. The outside surface has vertical finger-
smoothing. The vessel seems to have been partially re-fired or burned to black. Three sherds were found of
this jar, which conforms well to local Middle Saxon types. From the Phase A bank.
2. Hand-made rim sherd from a cooking pot in a hard, gritty, black fabric, which can be well paralleled in local
Middle Saxon wares, though the form suggests Iron Age B types. This sherd is not abraded. From the Phase A
bank.
3. Pancheon in a hard, sandy, orange-buff fabric. The interior is glazed with a fine yellow-green glaze. There
are two opposed lugs on the rim. From Floor 4.
40
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
4. Pancheon in a soft, sandy, buff fabric, orange on the interior, with a grey core. Wavy-line decoration on the
rim. From the surface of the Phase A bank, associated with Phase B.
5. Thumb-decorated jug base in a hard, sandy, orange-buff fabric with a dark grey core. From the wall-tumble,
Phase D (a).
6. Upper part of a squat jug in a fine, cream-buff fabric with a pale grey core. There is a patchy pale green glaze
on the outside. From Floor 3.
7. Jar in a soft, coarse, orange fabric with a light grey core. From Floor 2.
8. Bowl with an inturned rim in a hard, well-fired, sandy, orange-buff fabric with a dark grey core. The top of
the rim is rouletted. From the blocking of the Phase C doorway.
9. Cooking pot in a hard, well-fired, sandy, grey fabric with a black interior surface. From Floor 3.
LOW CAYTHORPE, EAST YORKSHIRE - THE MANOR SITE
41
10. Bowl in a soft, sandy, orange-buff fabric with a light grey core. From the surface of the Phase A bank,
associated with Phase C.
B. Small finds (Fig. 5)
1-6 are of iron.
1. Weed-hook. The flanges were wrapped around the shaft and secured by a nail. From the Phase D courtyard
paving.
2. Arrow-head, with flanges wrapped around the shaft. From the surface of the Phase A bank.
3. One of a pair of pins with pierced, flattened heads. From Floor 3.
4. Horse-shoe of late-medieval type. From Floor 4.
5. Knife-blade. From the paving of the Phase D courtyard.
6. Twisted rod, originally of square section, with a loop or eye at the upper end. From the build-up below the
Phase D courtyard paving.
7. Large sandstone trough or basin, open at one end, found with a worked chalk lid, grooved to fit securely over
it. This trough gave no hint of its intended use. From Floor 4, above the north cross-wall.
42
ANIMAL REMAINS FROM WHARRAM PERCY
By M. L. Ryder
With notes on the background by J. G. Hurst and on the medieval use of horses by
H. E. Jean Le Patourel
I. WHARRAM PERCY By J. G. Hurst
Alter sample excavations on various deserted village sites by M. W. Beresford in the
late nineteen-forties and early nineteen— fifties, including Wharram Percy between 1950
and 1952, the newly-formed Deserted Medieval Village Research Group chose Wharram
Percy as its main research project and, since 1953, has conducted annual excavations each
of about three to four weeks’ duration. In the nineteen-fifties and nineteen-sixties two
toft sites were completely excavated and work is now in progress on the church, vicarage,
the south mill dam and on various boundaries, including examination of late Iron Age and
Roman features underneath. Full interim reports have been published each year in the
Annual Reports of the Deserted Medieval Village Research Group from 1953 onwards.
Since 1957 there have been shorter reports, including plans in the annual Medieval Britain
section of Medieval Archaeology. Unfortunately the great mass of material, problems of
time and the difficulties in obtaining other specialist reports, have prevented the publication
of a definitive publication which, it is hoped, will appear as a Society for Medieval
Archaeology Monograph. Now that the site has been given by Lord Middleton into the
guardianship of the Department of the Environment, it is possible to make more progress
and it is hoped that the first report will be ready within the next two years. Meanwhile,
as Dr. Ryder’s report on the animal bones was prepared as long ago as 1959 for the early
material, it has been decided to publish this now to avoid further delays.
Area 10 was excavated between 1953 and i960, and the general interpretation plan was
published at an early stage in 1957, 1 and, as finally completed, in 1964. 2 There was no
occupation on the west side of the valley before the twelfth century, the earliest settlement
being in the valley bottom round the church.3 In the last quarter of the twelfth century
the Percies built a substantial manor house, the undercroft of which was excavated.4
None of the animal bones examined can be closely equated with this phase, but the first
group, comprising some 700 bones, comes from the fill of the undercroft and is datable
to the thirteenth century, with later layers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries above,
when this area became an open yard. The second group of bones numbered over 1000
specimens and came from the general area of the toft, including a number of quarries,
and has been divided into groups of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries.
The third group of 1200 bones came from the main house 10 area and was stratified
with the various levels C to Ai, ranging in date from the late thirteenth century till the
early sixteenth century. It is very difficult to determine the exact length of each period,
since the main dating material, the pottery, cannot be closely dated to within the short
periods during which each building lasted. The dates given in Table I are therefore only
1 Medieval Archaeol., I (1957), p. 167, fig. 34.
2 Medieval Archaeol., VIII (1964), p. 293, fig. 95. Also published in Beresford, M. W. and Hurst, J. G. (Eds.),
Deserted Medieval Villages (1971), p. 123, fig. 27.
3 Hurst, J. G., ‘The changing medieval village in England’ in Ucko, P. J. et al. (Eds.), Man, Settlement and Urbanism
(!972)> P- 536, fig. 4. Village plan also published in Beresford and Hurst (1971), p. 120, fig. 25.
4 Medieval Archaeol., II (1958), p. 207, fig. 51.
ANIMAL REMAINS FROM WHARRAM PERCY
43
a close approximation of the likely dates of the bones from the various levels. The fourth
group of bones were those found during the 1959 season on Area 10 and have a wide range
in date. These were similar in character to those found previously, and therefore only
species and measurements were noted by Dr. Ryder. The animal bones from the final
i960 season have yet to be examined.
The second toft to be excavated between 1961 and 1970 was Area 6. Only the bones
found in the first two seasons have been examined. These are all from the late fifteenth-
century layers both over the latest house (nos. 10,001-10, 165), 5 and from the yard to the
north over the earlier house (nos. 11,75 8-1 3, 026). 6 From these layers a sample comprising
about 900 bones was examined.
II. THE ANIMAL REMAINS By M. L. Ryder
The skeletal remains described in the present report can be subdivided into all those
found in Area 10 up to 1959, inclusive, and those found subsequently while excavating
Area 6. The first collection was reported on in 1959? hut only the main conclusions were
published.7 The 1959 report has therefore been re-written to include the results from the
Area 6 bones, and to take into account findings from other sites that have been published
in the intervening period.
Although those bones excavated from Area 10 up to 1959 can be divided into four
groups (see above), they came from all parts of the site, no particular accumulation having
been found; the fill of the various quarries was, however, particularly rich in bones.
The bones were very fragmentary, particularly those from food animals, but they
had rounded edges, showing considerable wear. This suggests disturbance after the bones
had found their way into the ground. Several of those from Area 6 were calcined, indicat-
ing burning, and several showed teeth marks, which suggested that they had been gnawed
by a dog.
The horse bones were more complete, and often in groups, showing that the carcase
had been buried whole, but they were fragile, and had often been broken during or after
recovery.
The Area 6 bones were all of fifteenth-century date (see above). The bones were
tabulated as identified, as in Table II, any possible age determinations or measurements
being noted. Counts of the relative numbers of each species, and of the numbers killed
in each different group, in each level, could then be made.
The Species Found
Mammals
HORSE , PIG , OX, SHEEP, and GOAT:
The only certain finds from goat were several horn cores and, as it is extremely difficult
to distinguish most goat bones from those of sheep, such finds should strictly be reported
as sheep/goat. Since it is thought that the vast majority of the bones in question must have
been from sheep, they have all been reported as sheep.
RED, FALLOW, and ROE DEER:
The main finds from these animals were teeth, only one broken antler (from Red deer)
being found. It was not possible to determine the relative numbers of each species because
of the uncertainty in placing the teeth (distinguished by size) as either Fallow or Red deer.
But teeth from Fallow deer seemed to predominate.
5 Medieval Archaeol., VIII (1964). P- 293. fig- 95-
6 Medieval Archaeol., XIII (1969), P- 284, fig. 87.
7 Ryder, M. L., ‘Livestock remains from four medieval sites in Yorkshire’, Agr. Hist. Rev., IX (1961), pp. 105-110.
44
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
DOG and CAT: Both common. Upper and lower jaw, 1 6 teeth and a femur of dog.
RABBIT , ? HARE:
Although there were several bones that were definitely from rabbit plus almost an
entire skeleton in Area 6 (io,ooi),8 these species, too, are distinguished by size, and there
was a cuboid and a metatarsal that seemed large enough to have come from hare.
RAT species: almost complete skeleton from Area 6 (10,056). 8
MOUSE species: of House mouse (Mus musculus) size.
MAN: Foot bone from adult; humerus from 5-year-old child.
Birds: Goose (common), domestic fowl (common e.g. 18 bones from Area 6), duck (one
bone), pigeon (one bone). Apparently little, if any wild fowl was eaten.
Amphibia: A few bones from either frog or toad.
Fish: Cod and many of cod size, with a few smaller ones possibly from fresh water fish.
Invertebrates
Marine Shell-fish: fragment of oyster shell ( Ostrea edulis), 2 from Area 6, fragment of
? whelk shell ( Buccinum undatum).
Edible land snail: Cepaea nemoralis.
Worked Bones
The Red deer antler had been sawn off and the sawn edges rounded, and at least one of
the goat horn cores showed evidence of having been chopped from the skull. A pig
metapodial (foot bone) had been shaved into the form of a peg, and there was a tapering
bone peg, with a hole at the larger end, probably made from an ox bone. This could
possibly have been used as a shuttle for a loom; one very similar to this is illustrated by
La Page.9 The same author shows a sheep metapodial, with a hole in the middle, used
for the same purpose in the Iron Age, and it is interesting that a number of lower halves
of sheep tibiae were found in the present study with a hole near the distal end. It is not
certain that the hole was man made, but the above mentioned illustration suggests a possible
use for these bones. Another possible use is as a whistle, the hole formed at the point at
which the bone was broken (in half) being the blow-hole. Megaw illustrates bone whistles
with one and more holes.10
Diseased and Abnormal Bones
There was an ulna of a young ox with an arthritis and ostitis of the elbow joint. The
immaturity of this animal suggests that this condition might have been caused by joint-ill.
A vertebra from a sheep or a dog was deformed in such a way as to make the anterior end
oblique. The obliquity was well developed showing that the deformity had been there
for some time, but there was no indication of the cause. The first and second phalanges
from a sheep’s foot were found with a peri-ostitis (extra growth of bone on the surface).
The first bone was badly affected over the whole of its length, but the second bone was
only affected in the upper part, although the two bones were not fused together. No specific
cause can be suggested.
There was a foot joint of a horse which was so badly affected with arthritis that the first
and second phalanges, the bones on each side of the joint, had become fused rigidly
together. This condition is known as high ringbone, and is still common today, often
8 These entire skeletons could be from recent animals that had burrowed into the site; 011 the other hand they
could be of fifteenth-century date and have entered the house while it was in decay.
9 La Page, J., ‘The story of wool cloth’, Wool Knowledge III (VI) (1955), p. 13.
10 Megaw, J. V. S., ‘Penny Whistles and prehistory’, Antiquity XXXIV (i960), pp. 6-13.
ANIMAL REMAINS FROM WHARRAM PERCY
45
causing lameness, but not usually preventing the animal from working. The cause is
unknown. The first phalanx of an ox had an articular surface showing erosion and new
growth of bone around the edge. This suggests a septic process such as a severe case of
foul-in-the-foot, which causes digital suppuration. A pig metapodial had a small localised
area of new growth on the posterior aspect, i.e. not on the site of a muscle attachment, and
therefore probably caused by an inflammation behind the ankle.
There was a pig’s lower jaw with the 7th (trilobed) molar erupting (surface unworn
and roots only beginning to form) almost completely upside down in the jaw. It is thought
that this had turned over as a result of unusual pressures, e.g. from the angle of the jaw
adjacent to it, caused by shortness in the jaw probably arising from poor nutrition, McCance
(1964) illustrated a pig’s jaw in which experimental undernutrition had caused these molars
to erupt at right angles to their proper line,11 and Luhmann (1965) illustrated archaeological
specimens in which they had turned over so that the crown faced the tongue.12
Two horse molars had pits in the enamel at the side of the tooth. These are thought to
be of a seasonal character resulting from poor nutrition.
Numbers
Counts were made of the most common bones from different levels in three areas as
indicated in Table I. As will be seen from the table there were no obvious trends with
time and no marked differences between the areas, except that horse bones tended to be
concentrated in the fill of the Manor house undercroft.
The results of counts from Area 6 are shown in Table II. Comparison of the percentages
from the three areas in Table I with those in Table II shows comparable figures except for
the horse (7% and 13%). The other comparisons are ox: 25% and 22%, sheep: 57% and
55%, and pig: 9% and 10%.
Table I
Results of Counts up to 1959
HORSE
ox
SHEEP
PIG
DEER
actual
0/
0
actual
0/
/o
actual
0/
/o
actual
0/
/o
actual
0/
/o
Cellar of Manor
13th
30
22
45
34
45
34
13
10
—
—
14th
25
15
47
28
82
50
10
6
2
1
15th 70
Area 1 0 Yards and Quarries
16
in
26
205
48
32
8
8
2
13th
14
7
57
29
108
56
14
7
1
0-5
14th
9
2
119
28
255
59
38
9
11
2
15th
15
4
76
18
262
64
48
12
6
2
Area 10
late 13th
1
4
3
10
20
67
5
15
1
4
1300-50
4
4
26
28
53
56
9
10
2
2
1350-1400
17
3
131
25
323
62
37
8
13
2
1400-40
8
5
23
22
99
66
10
8
—
—
1440-70
10
4
64
25
155
60
20
8
7
3
1470-1500
3
4
24
28
47
55
10
11
2
2
early 16th
Total
8
2I4\
6
30
75b\
23
83
17371
62
12
258\
9
53\
Mean No.
ox, sheep, pig only
meat contribution
16/
7%
48/
25%
27%
77%
134 /
57%
63%
18%
20 f
9%
10%
5%
5/
2%
Some authors consider that a more accurate percentage is obtained from the minimum
number of animals represented by the array of bones found, and so such figures have been
included in Table II for comparison. But it is possible for such figures to be influenced
11 McCance, R. A., ‘Some effects of undernutrition’, J. Pediatrics LXV (1964), pp. 1008-14.
12 Luhmann, F., ‘Tierknochenfunde aus der stadt auf dem Magdalensberg bei Klagenfurt in Karnten. iii. Die
schweineknochen’, Karntner Museumsschriften XXXIX (1965).
46
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
greatly by the chance inclusion owing to sampling error of only a few examples of the
same bone from a particular species. Thus the 38 sheep tibiae in Table II have increased the
percentage of sheep expressed in this way.
It has also been pointed out that since species vary considerably in size, the bone
percentage does not indicate the weight of meat contributed. In order to obtain an estimate
of meat supply the number of bones is multiplied by an estimated relative body weight.
In the present study 1000 lb. has been taken for cattle, 100 lb. for sheep, and 200 lb. for pigs.
It must be emphasised, however, that these figures are little more than guesses, and that
neither the absolute body weights, nor their relation to those of other species, are known.13
Seddon, Calvocoressi, Cooper and Higgs used cattle; 1120 lb., sheep: 140 lb., and pig:
200 lb.,14 while Yealland and Higgs used cattle: 900 lb., sheep: 125 lb., and pig: 200 lb.15
Harcourt used dressed carcass weights of cattle: 400 lb., sheep: 25 lb., and pig: 80 lb.ltt
Whichever of these figures is used, the same broad conclusion is reached, viz., that although
sheep bones may outnumber those of cattle, cattle contribute more meat owing to their
larger size (Tables I and II).
Table II
Counts of livestock bones from Area 6
HORSE
OX
SHEEP
PIG
Horn core
—
1
2
Skull
—
2
I
Upper jaw
—
—
2
7
Lower jaw
3
4
32
6
Incisor
15
21
14
22
Canine
—
15
—
2
Molar
58
39
24O
19
Scapula
3
5
4
Humerus
3
7
20
2
Radius
2
3
28
3
Ulna
1
3
2
2
Carpals
3
19
7
Metacarpals
1
4
9
Pelvis
—
1
11
Femur
—
4
5
4
Tibia
1
2
38
2
Fibula
5
2
—
2
Tarsals
2
14
4
4
Metatarsals
—
II
2
I
Metapodial (unidentified)
4
5
29
I
Phalanges
10
17
16
7
Totals
ill
179
466
84
Grand Total
840
percentage
13
22
55
10
% based on No. of individuals
9
13
70
8
Grand total excluding horse
729
% excluding horse
24
64
12
individual % excluding horse
14
78
8
meat contribution % based on
bones
74
19
7
meat contribution % based on
individuals
60
32
8
The Age at which the Animals were Killed
Age at death was estimated from the stage of development of the dentition in complete
jaws, and the degree of wear and condition of the roots of individual teeth, the criteria
13 Ryder, M. L., Animal Bones in Archaeology (Oxford, 1969), p. 52.
14 Seddon, D., Calvocoressi, D., Cooper, C. and Higgs, E. S., ‘Fauna’ in Addyman, P. V., ‘A dark-Age settlement
at Maxey, Northants’, Medieval Archaeol., VIII (1964), p. 71.
15 Yealland, S. and Higgs, E. S., ‘The Economy’ in Hilton, R. H. and Rahtz, P. A., ‘Upton, Gloucestershire,
i959-i9<54\ Trans. Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeol. Soc., LXXXV (1966), pp. 70-146.
16 Harcourt, R., ‘Report on Animal Bones’ in Musty, J. and Algar, D., ‘Excavations at the Deserted Medieval
Village Site of Gomeldon, near Salisbury, Wilts.’, Salisbury Museum Research Comms. Interim Reports VII-IX
(1964).
ANIMAL REMAINS FROM WHARRAM PERCY
47
used being detailed by Ryder.17 It must be borne in mind that the ages given are those
applicable to modern animals. Development may have been slower in the past (resulting
in an underestimate of age), and wear may have been more rapid (resulting in an over-
estimate). Harcourt (personal communication) refers to a ewe aged two years in which
the development of the dentition was retarded by 6 months, i.e. a difference of 25 /0.
A detailed analysis of the ages found in the sheep and ox among the Area 10 finds is shown
in Table III. Although the numbers are somewhat small to show any trends, it appears
that the age of killing remained similar during the whole period examined.
From Area 10 the ages of killing of both the sheep and cattle show a similar pattern.
The largest (peak) number were killed at a little over two years, but the number killed at
two years added to the number killed under two years was in fact greater than the peak
number. As age increased, the number killed decreased, but there were a few finds from
ox that had been killed at much greater ages than the sheep. And from Area 6 the peak
age at which oxen were killed was five years.
The findings do not support the contention that sheep were kept to a relatively great
age in order to obtain as many clips of wool from them as possible.18
Although a fair number of finds from young animals, and a few from older animals,
were found, most pigs were apparently killed at about 18 months of age, as on the other
medieval sites examined. This is early in their second winter, and at about three times
the age of killing today, which indicates the additional time these scavengers needed to
reach maturity.
There was a wide range of age among the horse teeth, from young to very old,
presumably indicating that they had all died a natural death. Two incisors from Area 6
were under two, one about fifteen years and five over twenty years old. Some horse
molars were worn literally to the roots, and in one the wear had exposed the pulp cavity.
As an illustration of the difficulty of judging age from the amount of wear in a single tooth,
one might mention the possibility that the first molar of a horse might be excessively worn
by a bit.
The lack of precision in age determination coupled with observer differences, makes it
extremely difficult to compare the age of killing at different sites, but the pattern at
Wharram seems to have been similar to that at the Saxon village of Maxey,19 and not
really different from that at Upton,20 contrary to the interpretation of Beresford and
Hurst (1971). 21
The Size and Type of the Animals
The bones were too fragmentary to make many measurements; those that it was possible
to make are shown in Table IV, and these measurements support the impression gained
that the animals were on the whole smaller than those on the other medieval sites examined.
The horse finds were of pony size (see discussion). No complete ox skulls were found, and
there were only a few fragments of ox horn cores. There were a few instances of ox
metapodia with a broad distal end like those found at Kirkstall.22 Hornless sheep were
indicated by one complete hornless skull from Area 10 and another almost two years of
age in the wall rubble of Area 6. Hornless skulls readily break into unidentifiable
fragments, whereas if a horned skull breaks the horn core usually remains intact. There
were, however, not many sheep horn cores.
17 Ryder, M. L., Animal Bones in Archaeology (1969).
18 Trow-Smith, R., A History of British Livestock Husbandry to 1700 (1957).
19 Seddon, D. et al., Medieval Archaeol., VIII (1964). PP- 69-71.
20 Yealland, S. and Higgs, E. S., Trans. Bristol and Gloucs. Arch. Soc., LXXXV (1966), pp. 70-146.
21 Beresford, M. W. and Hurst, J. G., Deserted Medieval Villages (1971), PP- 138-9-
22 Ryder, M. L., ‘Reports on the Animal Remains’ in Kirkstall Abbey Excavations, Publ. Thoresby Soc. XLVIII,
no. 107 (1959). PP- 41-53, 67-77, 98-100 and 130-2.
48
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Table III
Percentage of Ages
Area 10
Under two
years
two
two plus
five
years
five
plus
ten
actual
0/
/o
actual
0/
/o
actual
O/
/o
actual
0/
/ 0
actual
0/
/o
actual
0/
/o
Sheep
late 13th
4
40
2
20
3
30
1
10
—
—
1300-50
5
21
10
41
8
33
—
—
1
5
1350-1400
25
17
38
26
62
43
18
12
3
2
1 400-40
6
13
20
43
15
33
4
9
1
2
1440-70
21
26
23
28
25
3i
12
15
—
—
1470-1500
10
33
4
I3‘5
12
40
4
13-5
—
—
early 16 th
18
33
22
40
12
22
3
5
—
—
Total
89
119
137
43
5
Mean %
30
35
39
12
3
Ox
late 13th
1300-50
3
25
5
42
1
8
2
17
1
8
—
—
1350-1400
15
30
7
14
19
38
7
16
1
2
—
—
1400-40
5
3i
6
37
3
19
2
13
—
—
—
—
1440-70
10
25
6
15
15
38
6
15
1
2
—
5
1470-1500
—
—
1
20
3
60
1
20
—
—
—
—
early 16th
2
22-2
—
—
4
44'4
3
33-3
—
—
—
—
Total
35
25
45
21
3
5
Mean %
27
25
34
19
4
5
Area 6
Under
2
At least
2
At least
5
actual
0/
/o
actual
%
actual
%
ox
9
l6
20
36
26
48
sheep
49
22
122
54
57
24
pig
12
42
12
42
5
16
Most sheep horn cores were typical of those of modern animals but some had a more
shallow curve suggesting the Soay type of sheep. Wool remains in medieval parchments,
too, have suggested that survival of Soay sheep, in addition to other types, in England
during the Middle Ages.23
The majority of domestic fowl bones were of only bantam size, although some were
as large as those from an average modern fowl. Some of the leg bones had spurs suggesting
fighting cocks, but old roosters can have large spurs. There were also two sizes of goose
bones, which could indicate that wild as well as domestic geese were eaten.
Table IV
Measurements (mm) - up to igsg
13th Century
Length
Proximal Width Distal Width
Metacarpals
—
40
—
—
47
—
Metatarsals
—
—
49
c. 180
43
—
c. 190
40
—
14th Century
Metacarpals
173
45
55
separate ends
52
49
53
50
54
54
55
59 (2)
62
Metatarsals
separate ends
39
48
42
(broad) 50
45
50
23 Ryder, M. L., ‘Follicle remains in some British parchments’, Nature CLXXXVII (i960), pp. 130-2.
ANIMAL REMAINS FROM WHARRAM PERCY
49
OX
SHEEP
SHEEP
HORSE
15th Century
Length
Proximal Width
Distal Width
Metacarpals
182
52
54
155
56
—
separate ends
53 (broad) 73
Metatarsals
separate ends
32
48
35
50
4i
55
42
57
46
62
Tibia and femur each c. 300 mm long
16th Century
Metacarpals
45
57
Metatarsal
37
ijth Century
Metacarpals
95
19
22
118
22
25
separate ends
20
22
23
23
Metatarsals
18 (2)
19
25
14th Century
Metacarpals
1 12
19
22
c. 1 15
20
—
c. 120
21
—
separate ends
18
22
19 (2)
23 (2)
20 (4)
Metatarsals
hi
18
22
132
20
22
separate ends
16
17 (2)
18
19 (2)
20
One tibia c. 150 mm long and another 165
mm to the suture of the proximal epiphysis
15th Century
Length
Proximal Width
Distal Width
Metacarpals
hi
20
20
US
22
—
127
22
25
19 (2)
20
Metatarsals
117
19
23
118
19
23
118
19
23
separate ends
18 (2)
20
19 (4)
21
25
16th Century
Metacarpals
c. 90
Metatarsals
—
19
—
i^th Century
Metacarpals
245
45
47
Metatarsals
c. 220
—
—
240
45
—
Humerus
275
—
70
14th Century
Metatarsal
_
45
First phalanx
70
42
37
75
47
44
15 th Century
Metacarpals
225
52
50
Metatarsals
255
45
45
MC/MT
—
—
36
First phalanx
75
47
40
80
50
40
1 6th Century
MC/MT
35
—
50
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
DOMESTIC FOWL
GOOSE
13 th Century
Tarsometatarsus
Tarsometatarsus
Humerus
14 th Century
Coracoid
Humerus
Radius
Carpometacarpus
Carpometacarpus
Tibiotarsus
15 th Century
Ulna
Carpometacarpus
length
95 (large) with 20 mm spur
70
66
50
65
67
42 (large)
3i
hi
65
37
Tarsometatarsus with 15 mm spur (ends of bone broken)
14th Century Tarsometatarsus 80
15 th Century Carpometacarpus c. 90
DIAMETERS OF FISH VERTEBRAE (frequency in brackets)
13th Century 14, 22
14th Century
5 (2), 6, 8, 9, 11,
16, 17, 18, 20 (1st
of vertebral column) 20 (2) 24
15 th Century
Length
(D
5, 12, 13, 16
Measurements from Area 6
*/
Proximal Minimum width
Width at mid-point (M)
Distal
Width
LIM
HORSE
Metapodial
200
—
—
40
—
OX
Tibia
—
—
—
60
Metacarpals
190
59
35
62
5-43
—
50
28
—
—
—
—
—
48
—
Metatarsals
190
40
—
—
—
—
—
—
53
—
—
—
—
58
—
215
50
30
61
7-17
—
40
—
—
—
215
48
28
52
7-68
SHEEP
Metacarpal
in
21
12
—
9-25
Metatarsal
119
20
12
24
9-92
Discussion
The bones were on the whole of similar character to those from the other medieval
sites examined, but Wharram contrasted with the wealthy monastic sites of Kirkstall
and Pontefract in having relatively few bones from wild animals.24 Although it is true
that the numbers of bones from food animals indicate the number of animals eaten rather
than the number kept, the high proportions of sheep bones found is in keeping with the
expected farming pattern of the area. It is possible that on a village site the animals were
eaten roughly in the same proportions as those in which they were kept. For purposes of
comparison with other medieval sites, omitting the horse, the proportions can be regarded
as being roughly 30% ox, 60% sheep, 8% pig and 2% deer. It turns out therefore that
only at Kirkstall Abbey was the proportion of ox bones as high as 90%, with only 5%
sheep. Petergate, York had 60% ox and 30% sheep.25 And whereas Pontefract Priory,
24 Ryder, M. L., Publ. Thoreshy Soc. XLVIII, no. 107 (1959), pp. 41-53, 67-77, 98-100 and 130-2; ‘Report on
the animal remains’ in Bellamy, C. V., Pontefract Priory Excavations 1957-61, Publ. Thoresby Soc. XLIX, no. no
(1965), pp. 132-6.
Ryder, M. L., ‘The animal remains from Petergate, York, 1957-58’, Yorkshire Archaeol. J ., XLII (1970), pp. 418-
28.
25
ANIMAL REMAINS AT WHARRAM PERCY
51
like Wharram, had 30% ox, a relatively high proportion of pig bones (20%) reduced the
proportion of sheep bones to 45%. 26 Wharram therefore had the greatest proportion of
sheep bones. In all other village sites reviewed by Beresford and Hurst, except Seacourt,
sheep outnumbered cattle, although cattle predominated at the Saxon villages of Cassington
and Maxey.27
Perhaps the most striking feature about Wharram noted by Ryder (1961) was the
relatively large proportion of horse bones compared with the other sites.28 It is possible,
however, that the numbers had been artificially increased because the bones had come
from complete skeletons. What the horses were used for is not clear; the predominant
draught animal in the middle ages was the ox, and in any case these animals were of only
pony size. They may have been pack or riding animals, and it is possible that Wharram
may have been a breeding centre for such ponies. Trow-Smith says that horses and even
whole stud farms were mentioned in wills as early as the tenth century.29 But before this
suggestion of Wharram as a breeding centre is put forward, it will be necessary to make
sure that other medieval villages do not have a similar high proportion of horse bones.
Although Wharram did have more horse bones than the other villages studied since
(Gomeldon, Upton, Martinsthorpe and Seacourt), the figure of 7% at Wharram was
comparable with 8% at the Saxon villages of Cassington and Maxey.
One must not, however, exclude entirely the possibility that some at any rate of the
horses were used to draw ploughs.30 According to Trow-Smith the first British evidence
of the use of horses for ploughing dates from the eleventh century,31 although there are
few mentions in Domesday of specifically agricultural horses each village having about
one riding horse. The harnessing of horses to the plough depended on the Asiatic invention
of a rigid padded collar which came to the west about a.d. 700. This question is discussed
elsewhere by the writer in greater detail.32
It is most interesting that sea fish, including shell-fish were found as on the other sites;
that they should have reached this apparently isolated village on the wolds seems
remarkable. Sea fish was of course dried, but oysters may have been transported in barrels
of salt water. On the other hand, if they are merely kept cool and moist oysters will
remain dormant for months.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Dr A. S. Clarke of the Royal Scottish Museum for assistance with the identification of certain
bones and Mr K. G. Towers of the Agriculture Department, Leeds University, for describing the diseased and
abnormal bones.
III. THE USE OF HORSES By H. E. Jean Le Patourel
Considered in isolation, the unusual number of horse bones found at Wharram Percy
might be interpreted in more than one way. When, however, they are looked at in relation
to the situation at the neighbouring manor of Wetwang, a strong case can be made for
suggesting that they are the remains of plough animals.
William Wickwane, archbishop of York from 1279 to 1285, made arrangements for
permanent stocking of the demesne on various manors belonging to the see with animals
for agricultural use. An ordinance embodying his arrangements was confirmed by the
26 Ryder, M. L., Publ. Thoresby Soc. XLIX (1965), pp. 132-6.
27 Beresford, M. W. and Hurst, J. G., Deserted Medieval Villages (I971)-
28 Ryder, M. L., Agr. Hist. Rev., IX (1961), pp. 105-110.
29 Trow-Smith, R., A History of British Livestock Husbandry to 1700 (1957).
30 See note by H. E. Jean Le Patourel below.
31 Trow-Smith, op. cit. in n. 29.
32 Ryder, M. L., ‘Livestock’ in Finberg, H. P. R. (Ed.), The Agrarian History of England and Wales I (forthcoming).
52
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
king and enrolled on the Charter Rolls in 1283. 33 Twenty manors, twelve of them in
Yorkshire, were provided, among other things, with varying numbers of ploughs.
Nineteen of the manors were allotted nine oxen for each plough. The twentieth, Wetwang,
situated just over five miles from Wharram and also on the Wolds, was given two ploughs
and eight horses, but no oxen at all.
Walter of Henley, writing at much the same time, made a careful analysis of the relative
cost of ploughing with horses and with oxen. He came down heavily against the horse
as more expensive to feed, as needing to be shod,34 as less useful when dead, and as no
quicker on the ground because ‘the malice of the ploughman’ would not allow the horse
plough to move faster than the ox plough.35 Nevertheless the words he chooses indicate
that he had first-hand experience of both types of plough team. It seems likely that the
shallow chalky soil of the Yorkshire Wolds made the use of horses more suitable than
would be the case on other types of soil. The archaeological evidence at Wharram and the
documentary evidence at Wetwang both point in this direction. Possibly Henley’s
experience may reflect experimental transference of upland practice to a less suitable
terrain - and the peasants’ reaction to an attempt to change custom. The cost factor would
rule out the use of horses on the peasants’ own holdings and the excavated Wharram ox
bones no doubt represent the peasants’ plough teams.
There will always be difficulty in demonstrating the type of draught animal at any given
upland manor on documentary evidence alone, save in such exceptional cases as that of
Wetwang, since horses for carting and harrowing were normally among the stock kept.
The most hopeful line is a comparison between the numbers of horses and oxen included
in manorial stock returns as they appear in reeve’s and bailiff’s accounts, and of the expenses
incurred under the heading ‘plough expenses’. It is significant that at Crawley in Sussex
there are intermittent references throughout the thirteenth century to shoeing both plough
horses and oxen, the former in some number. In 1208-9 there were 10 plough horses
(cjffri), 11 in 1233 and 8 in 1257, all returned under ‘plough expenses’.36 Crawley, unlike
Wharram Percy, is situated on clay.
The Council of the Society wishes to thank the Department of the Environment for a grant
towards the cost of publishing this article.
33 Cal. Charter Rolls, II (1257-1300), pp. 268-9.
34 There is evidence at some manors that oxen too, were shod. See n. 36.
35 Oschinsky, D., Walter of Henley and other treatises on estate management and accounts (1971), p. 319.
38 Gras, N. S. B., The Economic and Social History of an English Village (1930), p. 189.
53
BOOTHTOWN HALL: A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY
HOUSE IN THE PARISH OF HALIFAX
By J. A. Gilks
Summary Boothtown Hall, a fifteenth-century L-plan house, was encased in stone and enlarged c. 1640, converted
into tenements in the nineteenth century and demolished in 1968. Its history and development are discussed in the
light of a survey of the structure and of the results from excavation.
Boothtown Hall was situated miles (2-5 km) north of Halifax (SE 088269) on the
western side of Pepper Hill, at 650 ft. (198 m) O.D. overlooking the southern tip of the
plain of Ovenden. The house was aligned north-west — south-east with a service bay at
the north-western end, an open hall of two bays in the centre, and a three-bay residential
wing to the south-east. The house was encased in stone about 1640, and a new suite of
rooms added on the north side between the service bay and the east wing (Plate I). The
original entrance to the house was blocked and a new entrance constructed at the north-
west end of the north front. During the nineteenth century, when the house was converted
into tenements, the seventeenth-century windows, fireplaces and chimney stacks were
reconstructed, the walls plastered and the floors paved.
54
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
In 1968, the West Riding Archaeological Research Committee carried out a survey of
this house prior to its demolition in April of that year. Excavation work was also under-
taken in the service and hall bays in an attempt to throw some light on the history and
development of the hall. The excavation suggested that the house had been erected in the
fifteenth century, and that prior to its construction there had been two thirteenth to
fourteenth-century buildings on the site.
Photo: H. C. Morris
Plate I. Boothtown Hall. North front of seventeenth-century house, from north-west.
I
HISTORICAL
No references relating to the house have been found in the documents examined, and
it has therefore been impossible to associate it other than by its name, which is not
conclusive evidence, with a family called Bothes (or Boothes), recorded as living at Bothes
(Boothtown) from 12741 to 1620. 2 The first reference to a member of this family is to one
Gilbert del Bothes, forester in the wood of Hyperum (Hipperholme) and Schipenden
(Shibden) in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield.3 In the late thirteenth and early
fourteenth centuries the name occurs frequently in the Court Rolls, and in 1331, William,
son of Gilbert, is recorded as having paid 4 d for a messuage and eight acres of land at le
Bothes in the graveship of Hipperholme.4
There is little documentary evidence relating to the Bothes in the late fourteenth to
early sixteenth centuries, until 1522, when George, son of Christopher Boothes, is recorded
1 Baildon, W. R. (ed.), Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield’, Y.H.5. Record Ser., vol. I, xxix (1900), p. 81.
2 Baildon, W. R. (ed.), ‘Yorkshire Fines II, 1614-1625’, Y.H.5. Record Ser., lviii (1917), p. 238.
3 Baildon (1900), p. 168.
4 Walker, J. W. (ed.), ‘Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield’, Y.A.S. Record Ser., vol. V, cix (1944), p. 169.
BOOTHTOWN HALL*. A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
55
Plate II. Truss 2 with close studding, from south.
Photo: H. C. Morris
as leasing portions of the ‘great tithes and the tithes of lamb and wool’ from the monks of
Lewes in the Parish of Halifax.5 In 1595, John, Hugh and Robert, sons of George, held
lands in Hipperholme and Lightcliffe,6 and in 1614, Tobias, son of Robert and Judith his
wife, had a ‘messuage and lands in Rawden .7
The poor documentation of the family in the Later Middle Ages and in particular the
seventeenth century, has made it impossible to compile a detailed and accurate genealogical
table. Other families with the name Both, Bouth and Boothe appear in other parts of the
parish, and especially in the township of Northowram, during the fifteenth to seventeenth
centuries; these people may well have been descendants of the Boothes of Bothes, although
this point cannot be substantiated.8 That the Boothes had moved from Boothtown9 by
the second half of the seventeenth century is shown by the absence of their name in late
seventeenth-century documents. Indeed, Tobias had moved to Rawden by 1614 and a
George Boothe, ? cousin of Tobias, held lands in Pontefract.10
The style of the house and the archaeological evidence suggest a construction date in
the first half of the fifteenth century. No mention is made, however, of the house in
contemporary documents, but it could well be that it was built or at least owned by the
Boothes, who were, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, one of the largest land-
owning families in this part of Halifax.
5 Brown, W. (ed.), ‘Yorkshire Deeds III’, Y.A.S. Record Ser., lxiii (1922), p. 129, n. 377-
6 ‘Yorkshire Fines IV’, Y.A.S. Record Ser., viii (1889), p. 3d.
7 Baildon (1917), P- 21 •
8 For much valuable advice relating to the Boothe family, I am indebted to Mr A. Bettridge, of the Central
Library, Halifax.
9 Referred to as Bouthtowne in 1580; Crossley, E. W., ‘Parish Registers of Halifax, co. York, Yorks. Parish
Register Soc. 37 (1910), p. 263.
10 Baildon (1917), p. 238.
BOOTHTOWN HALL
56
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Fig. 2. Isometric projection of Boothtown Hall, with east wing, hall and service bay partially reconstructed.
II
THE TIMBER-FRAMED BUILDING
Boothtown Hall comprised the remains of an early fifteenth-century L-shaped house.
Internally, the centre portion, comprising the second and third bays, was an open hall
with a small rectangular service bay to the north-west with a chamber over, which was
BOOTHTOWN HALL: A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
57
probably reached by a ladder. The east wing, of three bays, had one large and one small
room on the ground floor with the original entrance to the house on the north-west side
of the second bay. There were three rooms over, which were open to the roof and these
were probably reached by a ladder from the second bay.
The house was constructed of sawn and planed oak; the timbers were secured with i in.
(2-4 cm) diameter round-sectioned oak pegs which were sawn off except for those securing
principal rafters, common rafters and ridge braces. The feet of the posts rested on stylobate
58
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
blocks of local sandstone, or were set in post pits. The floor was of thin sandstone slabs
and rammed yellow clay and exhibited many phases of repair.
The Service Bay (Figs. 2-5 and 8)
This was a single rectangular room, 16 ft. 3 in. (5-14 m) between the tie beams of trusses
1 and 2 and 18 ft. 9 in. (5-97 m) from wall plate to wall plate, to the north-west of the
hall and of two storeys. The framing consisted of two pairs of posts with their feet set in
shallow post pits (truss 1) and on single stylobate blocks (truss 2). The pair at the north-
west end carried a rectangular sectioned tie beam which was morticed for the tenons of
the enlarged heads of the posts; originally two braces, probably curved, spanned the angle
between the posts and the tie beam.
The pair of posts at the south-east end carried a cambered tie beam 1 ft. 9 in. (53-4 cm)
thick at its centre, which was supported by two curved braces (one remained on the north-
east side) which were tenoned into the sides of the posts (Plate 2). The wall plate and middle
rail were similarly attached to the external faces of the posts and the former was also
supported by pairs of curved braces. There was no evidence of a sill beam, although it
may have rested onto a sill wall without being jointed into the bases of the posts.
The gable was of hipped type and the common rafters sloped up to a pair of principal
rafters which were held together at the top by a triangular collar plate. The ridge piece was
let into the tops of the rafters but was not jointed to them.
The tie beam of truss 2 carried a king post with enlarged head, with the ridge piece let
into the top and secured by a pair of curved ridge braces. The purlins were recessed into
the backs of the principal rafters and the angles between the rafters and tie beam filled
with vertical studs with clay and straw filling in between; much of the original fill had
however, been replaced during the seventeenth century by brickwork. The sandstone slabs
used for roofing were supported on pairs of common rafters spaced at 15 in. (38 cm)
intervals which were secured at the top with a pegged tongued joint.
Originally the walls had been of vertical studding, and three studs survived on the
north-east side. Clay and straw was used to fill the spaces between the studs and this was
plastered on to oak splints which were wedged and sometimes nailed into grooves in the
sides of the studs. Mortice holes in the soffit of the tie beam and the underside of the middle
rail of truss 2, indicate that these spaces had been filled with close vertical studding; the
studs had been removed in the seventeenth century and replaced by brick and stonework.
Entrance to the chamber was probably through a hole in the floor reached by a ladder
from the service bay, but of this feature no structural evidence survived; the original
staircase was probably removed when the contemporary oak plank floor was replaced
in the nineteenth century with narrow polished floorboards. On the ground floor, two
mortice holes in the underside of the middle rail of truss 2, suggest that a door had existed
at this point, which would have provided access to the hall from the service bay.
The Hall (Figs. 2-5)
The hall comprised the second and third bays and measured 30 ft. 6 in. (9-68 m) from
the tie beam of truss 2 to the north-west wall of the east wing and 18 ft. 9 in. (5-97 m)
from wall plate to wall plate, with a height of 21 ft. 3 in. (6- 72 m) from the flagged floor
to the underside of the ridge piece, and was open to the roof. It was spanned at its centre
by a large cambered tie beam (Fig. 9, Plate 3) which was supported by curved braces
which were tenoned into the sides of the posts and recessed into its soffit (Plate 4). The roof
structure was identical to that of the service bay to the north-west and therefore requires no
detailed description. The middle rail on the south-west side was recessed into the posts
whilst that on the north-east side was secured by a lap joint and supported at its south-east
end by an additional post which was tenoned into the wall plate.
Site of smoke-hood
BOOTHTOWN HALL
A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
59
Fig. 4. North-east elevation of hall, service bay and east wing
h Metres
6o
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
CO
O
O
C\J
lO -
Fig. 5. Elevation through hall, service bay and east wing, south-west side
h Feet h 1 ‘ 1 Metres
BOOTH TOWN HALL! A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
6l
Photo: H. C. Morris
Plate III. Truss 3 over hall, from south-east.
This post also supported the tie beam of a closed king post truss which carried the ridge
piece at the south-east end of the roof (Plate 5). The truss was 4 ft. 3 in. (1-31 m) from the
north-west wall of the east wing and possessed no mortice holes in its soffit to suggest that
there had once been a partition wall of vertical studding, nor was there provision in the
middle rail of the north-west wall of the wing for the seating of a wooden canopy. From
this it can be concluded that this truss was probably inserted to give support to the ridge
piece and was not intended to carry a timber canopy as at High Bentley, Shelf11 and White
Hall, Ovenden.12
The south-west wall had been filled with vertical studding between the sill beam/middle
rail and the middle rail/wall plate. On the north-east side however, apart from three later
studs nailed to the outer faces of the wall plate/middle rail of the second bay, there was no
evidence of contemporary studding. It is possible that an aisle might have extended the
length of the second and third bays, although there were no peg or mortice holes in the
posts or wall plate of the hall or in the wall plate/middle rail and sill beam of the north-
west wall of the east wing to suggest that an aisle had existed on this side.
The East Wing (Figs. 2-7 and 9)
This was a three-bayed rectangular structure, 40 ft. 6 in. (12-86 m) long by 15 ft. 3 in.
(4-76 m) wide from wall plate to wall plate, with a height of 21 ft. (6-64 m) from modern
floor level to the underside of the ridge piece, and was of two storeys. Originally four
trusses (nos. 5 to 8 on Figs. 6 and 7), with the feet of the posts resting on sandstone stylobate
blocks (Plate 10), spanned the side walls. Truss 8, at the north end was removed during the
11 Atkinson, F. and McDowall, R. W., ‘Aisled Houses in the Halifax Area’, Ant.J. xlvii (1967), P- 83.
12 Surveyed by the writer in 1968, 1970-2; ‘Yorkshire Archaeological Register, 1970’, Y.A.J. 43 (1971), P- 196;
‘Yorkshire Archaeology 1972’, C.B.A. Newsletter (1972), p. 8; ‘Medieval Britain in 1970’, Med. Archaeol. xv
(1971), pp. 168-9; ‘Post Medieval Britain in 1970’, Post Med. Archaeol. 5 (1971), P- 2°8-
62
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
seventeenth-century reconstruction and only trusses 5, 6 and 7 remained to the south-west.
Morticed and tenoned on to the enlarged heads if the posts were rectangular sectioned
tie beams, each (apart from truss 5) supporting a king post with enlarged head which carried
the ridge piece and curved ridge braces. The purlins were recessed into the backs of the
principal rafters, and on each side was a complete set of common rafters; the common
rafters on the south-west side were supported on two principal rafters which rested on the
enlarged heads of the posts of truss 5, and sloped up to the end of the ridge piece. The
Truss 6 Truss 7 Truss 8
0 5
| , I 1 1 L_
15 0 5
1 peet i 1 ' 1 ‘ 1 Metres
Fig. 6. South-east elevation of east wing.
Entrance
5
J L_
15 0
—I Feet h
0
h
Fig. 7. Elevation through east wing, north-west side.
5
h Metres
BOOTHTOWN HALL! A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
63
Photo: H. C. Morris
Plate IV. Truss 3; south-west post displaying sawn-off wall plate, from east.
Photo: H. C. Morris
Plate V. Truss 4 with close studding over south-east end of hall, from north-west.
64
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
spaces between the principal rafters and the tie beam of truss 6, were filled with narrow,
closely-spaced, vertical studs (Plate 9) with clay and straw filling in between (Fig. 4). The
ridge piece of the hall extended through into the roof space of the wing and rested at its
extreme south-east end on the ridge piece of the east wing.
The walls were of narrow closely-spaced vertical studs with a clay and straw filling in
between; at the ends of each section of studding on the first floor were curved braces, each
spanning the angle formed by the post and the wall plate (Fig. 7, Plates 6-8). On the ground
floor the first, or south-west bay, had been divided from the second bay by a partition wall
of vertical studding. The two bays to the north-east formed a single rectangular room, with
the original entrance to the house on the north-west side of the second bay (Fig. 7). Of this
door, one curved jamb remained, and the position of the second was indicated by a mortice
Photo: H. C. Morris
Plate VI. North-west wall of east wing, south-east end of hall, from west.
hole in the underside of the middle rail to the north-east. A second door, with rectangular-
sectioned jambs morticed into the middle rail, and giving access to the hall from the wing,
was located in the west end of the north-west wall of the first bay (Fig. 7).
On the first floor, peg holes on the south-west sides of the tie beams of trusses 6 and 7
attest that the spaces between the soffits of the tie beams and the tops of the middle rails
had once been filled with vertical studding, making each bay a separate room. In the room
occupying the first bay, the original oak floor boards, 10 ft. 6 in. (3-38 m) long by 18 in.
(45-7 cm) wide by 3 in. (7-6 cm) thick had been preserved, and these showed evidence of
having been adzed on their upper surfaces and edges. The original oak floor boards in the
second and third rooms were removed in the nineteenth century and replaced with narrow
polished floor boards which were later painted dark brown.
Smoke FIood (Figs. 5 and 9)
Evidence of a smoke-hood was attested by smoke blackening on a pair of common
BOOTHTOWN HALL: A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
65
Photo: H. C. Morris
Plate VII. North-west wall of east wing, south corner of hall, from north.
rafters (with peg and mortice holes) and on the ridge piece at the south-east end of the roof
over the first bay of the hall. The three pairs of rafters to the south-east were not blackened,
and their clean surfaces suggested that they were probably replacements, inserted during
the seventeenth-century reconstruction. A feature of note is the mortice hole in the soffit
of the tie beam of truss 3 ; this suggests that there had been a central post extending down
to a cross-beam which would have been morticed into the sides of the posts. The original
rafters and vertical member would have carried the wooden framework of the smoke-
hood which allowed the escape of smoke from the hearth below. Similar smoke-hoods
have been identified at Haigh’s Farm, Sowerby13 and High Bentley.14
Joints
Throughout the house a high standard of jointing was displayed and six joint types were
identified:
Splice mortice and tenon: wall plates, north-east and south-west sides of the first bay of
the hall and the north-east and north-west sides of the second bay, east wing.
13 Atkinson and McDowall (1967), p. 81, Fig. 3, section C-C, Pi. XVI. b.
14 Ibid., pp. 83-4.
66
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Truss 1
Truss 2
0
5 10 0
-1 1 Feet h
3
h Metres
Fig. 8. Top: Truss i, north-west end of service bay, from south-east.
Bottom: Truss 2, south-east end of service bay, from south-east.
BOOTHTOWN HALL: A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
67
Truss 3
Truss 7
0 5 10 0
I — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — -J ! Feet 1-
3
H Metres
Fig. 9. Top: Truss 3; open truss over hall, from south-east.
Bottom: Truss 7, east wing, from south-west.
68
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Mortice and tenon: studs, posts, principal rafters, collar plate, wall plates, ridge pieces,
middle rails, tie beams, all forms of braces and smoke-hood.
Recessed mortice and tenon: middle rails of truss 2, west end of hall, north-east wall of
the second bay of the hall and truss 6, east wing.
Open mortice and tenon: purlins, north-east and south-west sides of the roof over the
first bay of the hall and the ridge piece to the south-east of truss 4.
Lap : middle rails secured to north-east post of truss 3, ridge piece to the east of truss 4
and above truss 7; purlins, third bay of east wing.
Tonpued : common rafters.
Carpenters’ Marks (Fig. 10)
Apart from two marks, one at the head of the north-east post of truss 2, south-east side,
and the second on the south-west post, south-east side below the middle rail, the marks
were confined to the north-west sides of the ridge braces of the east wing and the north-
east side of the king post of truss 7.
Fig. 10. Carpenters’ marks.
1. Truss 2, head of north-east post, south-east side.
2. Truss 2, south-west post, below the middle rail, south-east side.
3. East wing. Truss 6, south-west ridge brace, north-west side.
4. East wing. Truss 6, north-east ridge brace, north-west side.
5. East wing. Truss 7, south-west ridge brace, north-west side.
6. East wing. Truss 7, north-east ridge brace, south-west side.
7. East wing. Truss 7, king post, north-east side.
Windows
The windows in the south-east, north-east and north-west walls belonged to the
seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, whilst those on the south-west side were inserted
when the house was converted into tenements about 1850. No original windows remained,
but the position of one was suggested by the close spacing of three peg holes on the inner
face of the south-west wall plate of the service bay (Fig. 5). This was probably of a type
with square set, rectangular-sectioned, wooden mullions, similar to the well-preserved
window found during the demolition of Norland Hall, Halifax.15 Other windows
15 Kendall, H. P., ‘Norland Hall’, T. Halifax AS. (1911), pp. 19, 35.
BOOTHTOWN HALL! A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
69
probably existed in the north-east wall of the hall and in the south-east wall of the east
wing, but the precise position of these is uncertain.
The Seventeenth-Century House
Owing to the limited amount of time available for the survey, it was not possible to
record the seventeenth to nineteenth-century additions and alterations in detail; certain
features were, however, recorded and these are briefly described below.
The house was encased in stone about 1640 (date above the door 164?; last figure
weathered, but probably o) and a suite of rooms, with mullioned and transomed windows
with drip mouldings above terminating in heart and cross-shaped label stops, added on the
north-east side between the service bay to the north-west and the east wing (Plate 1); at
the corners on this side were heavy sandstone quoins. A new entrance with chamfered
jambs and a square sectioned lintel was inserted at the north-west end of the north front
and the original entrance to the house in the north-west wall of the east wing blocked.
The studding of the service bay, hall and the south-east wall of the east wing was removed
and the spaces filled with brick and stonework; similarly the spaces between the soffits
of the tie beams of trusses 2 and 3 and the original floor were blocked before the insertion
of a floor in the hall at middle rail level. During the late eighteenth-early nineteenth
centuries, the south-west wall of the east wing was covered with oak laths, 1 in. (2-4 cm)
wide and plaster, which was decorated on the south-east side of the first bay with small
painted flowers in orange, yellow, blue and grey.
About 1850, when the house was converted into tenements, the walls of the service bay,
hall, east wing and the seventeenth-century extension were plastered, the floors paved and
fireplaces inserted into most rooms. It was at this time that a small rectangular structure of
two storeys was constructed at the east corner, and the north-east, north-west, south-west
and south-east walls refaced with coursed squared rubble; small single and twin light
windows with square set, square-sectioned mullions replaced the seventeenth-century
windows. New doors were inserted to give access to individual tenements and the north-
east and the north-west walls cement rendered.
Ill
THE EXCAVATION
The excavation occupied one week in April 1968, and was confined to the service and
hall bays. Trial trenches excavated in the east wing were inconclusive and in two test
holes a layer of black ash used as a seating for the sandstone flags rested directly on the
natural subsoil. The excavation was impeded by the small size of the rooms and the presence
of water and gas pipes. The presence of a nineteenth-century chimney stack on the north-
west side of truss 3 prevented an examination of the open hearth, nor was it possible to
sample the levels in Fur Street on the south-west side of the house, where it was suspected,
and later confirmed during the removal of gas pipes, that evidence of the two pre-hall
structures might have been preserved.
Trench I
A section was cut parallel to truss 2 and at right angles to the robbed footings of the
south-west wall, in the west corner of the first bay of the hall (Fig. 3). The trench was
intended not only to examine the surface of the fifteenth-century floor (floor 3 on Fig. 11,
section A-B) but to investigate its junction with the south-west post of truss 2 and the
section of robbed walling to the south-east.
Floor 3 was located beneath the nineteenth-century flagged floor (floor 4) and a layer of
black soil and ash (layer 1) at the south-east end of the cutting, and a layer of stiff yellow
70
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
clay (layer 2) with medieval and post-medieval pottery intermixed at the north-west end
and was composed of flat pieces of undressed sandstone 1 in. (2-4 cm) thick, laid on a layer
of dark brown soil (layer 3). To the north-west the floor was of rammed yellow clay and
iron slag, the latter decreasing in quantity towards the south-west corner of the cutting.
The floor had been patched at the centre, where it had sunk into the underlying brown soil,
with dark brown soil and flat pieces of sandstone; in the soil were fragments of pottery
(some of these might well be residual (Fig. 12. 6 and 7)), flecks of charcoal and several small
pieces of burnt sandstone.
The foot of the south-west post of truss 2 rested on a single sandstone stylobate block,
1 ft. 9 in. (53-3 cm) wide by 1 ft. (30-5 cm) thick and exceeding 2 ft. (61 -o cm) in length,
which was set in a shallow rock-cut stone hole; the stylobate projected 3 in. (7-6 cm)
above the surface of the floor on the north-east side, whilst to the south-east, along the line
of the sill wall, the floor had been destroyed by a broad robber trench; the trench was
filled with broken bricks, stones, black soil and sherds of nineteenth-century pottery.
0 1 3
1 1 1 1 Metres
Black soil
Yellow clay
1
'/////
Black soil,
ash
and stones
Brown soil
urnt stones
\ V v \ \ \
\W\W
and a
Yellow
sh
soil
Fig. 11. Sections of Trenches I— III.
BOOTHTOWN HALL: A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
71
Sandwiched between floor 3 and a second floor (floor 2 below) of rammed yellow clay
was a layer of dark brown soil (layer 3) containing numerous potsherds (Fig. 12. 1, 3, 5,
8,9, 12 and 13) and an iron knife blade (Fig. 13. 2). A third floor (floor 1), also of rammed
yellow clay and small pieces of weathered sandstone, was located 7 in. (17-9 cm) below
floor 2. The two floors were separated by a layer of stiff yellow clay and stones with charcoal
fragments and several scraps of pottery (Fig. 12. 2) intermixed. Cut through the floor in
the north corner of the trench was a shallow hollow (Fig. 11. section C-D) 4 in. (10-2 cm)
deep and exceeding 4 ft. 9 in. (1-45 m) in diameter; the hollow was filled with yellow
clay, pieces of sandstone, charcoal and fragments of quartz tempered pottery.
Trench II
A trench 13 ft. 6 in. (411 m) by 8 ft. (2*44 m) was cut at right angles to the north-west
wall of the service bay and to within 4 ft. 2 in. (1-27 m) of the south-east wall of the bay
(Fig. 3). Layer 3 (Fig. 11. section E-F) was preserved beneath the modern flagged floor
and a layer of black soil (layer 1), as a bank 7 ft. 3 in. (2-21 m) wide running north-east -
south-west across the cutting. A pit dug about 1850, parallel to the north-west wall had
destroyed all trace of pre-hall occupation; in the centre of the pit was a square structure
constructed of red bricks 9F in. (24-0 cm) long by 3! in. (9-4 cm) wide by 2| in. (6-4 cm)
thick. The structure and the pit were filled with black soil, ash, burnt stones and charcoal,
intermixed were sherds of mid-nineteenth century pottery, nails, animal bones and
fragments of iron slag. To the south-east was a second pit, of mid-seventeenth-century
date, filled with large blocks of sandstone, black soil and sherds. Intermixed in the narrow
bank of brown soil were several scraps of pottery (Fig. 12. 15-17), iron nails (Fig. 12. 3
and 4) and an iron bolt.
Again floor 3 was of flat pieces of undressed sandstone laid directly on floor 1 , floor 2
was found to be absent from the stratigraphical sequence. Beneath one of the flags, and
cut through floor 1, was a circular post hole 1 ft. 2 in. (35-5 cm) in diameter by 4 in.
(ion cm) in depth, filled with fine brown soil, flecks of charcoal and fragments of weathered
sandstone. A small hearth of clay burnt deep red was located on the north-west side of the
seventeenth-century pit; associated with the hearth were fragments of pottery, pieces of
iron slag, charcoal and burnt stones. The brown soil layer to the north of the hearth had
been disturbed and black soil, ash, broken bricks and charcoal extended down from the
base of the modern flagged floor to the top of the natural subsoil.
Trench III
A trench 13 ft. (3-97 m) long was cut at right angles to the north-west wall of the east
wing, in the second bay of the hall, on the south-west side (Fig. 3)- Black soil, ash with
brick chippings and a layer of cement i| in. (3-8 cm) thick, containing fragments of
seventeenth-century green window glass, was found beneath the flagged floor (Fig. 11.
section G-H). The brown soil layer (layer 3) below had been disturbed at the north-west
end of the cutting by a mid-seventeenth-century pit (Fig. 11. section I— J) which exceeded
3 ft. 9 in. (1-14 m) in diameter with a depth of 1 ft. 3 hi- (38'1 cm). The pit was lined with
dark brown soil and levelled off with fine yellow soil and stones, in and towards the base
of the yellow soil were brick chippings, flecks of charcoal, a piece of iron sheeting and part
of a seventeenth-century iron key (Fig. 13. 7 and 9). In the brown soil above the pit were
pieces of burnt sandstone, flecks of charcoal, iron nails (Fig. 13* 6), part of an eighteenth-
century iron knife with wooden scales (Fig. 13* 8) and a sherd of quartz-tempered pottery.
A narrow extension to Trench III was cut across the south-west wall of the hall in the
south corner of the second bay of the hall. The sill wall had been robbed out and the
foundation trench filled with black soil, bricks, flat pieces of sandstone, iron slag and
charcoal ; intermixed were fragments of a blue glass bottle of nnd-nineteenth-century date.
On the north-east and south-west sides of the cutting, floor 1 had been preserved below
the YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
the brown soil as a layer of rammed yellow clay, i to i| in. (2-4 to 3-8 cm) thick; no evidence
was found in the excavated section of floors 2 and 3 or of the late-medieval industrial
activity found in trenches I and II. At the south-east end of the trench, and penetrating
floor 1, was a circular post hole, 1 ft. 3 in. (38-1 cm) in diameter by 1 ft. (30-5 cm) in depth,
with tapering sides and a flat bottom. The timber upright had been removed from the
post hole, and this was clearly attested by the splaying of the yellow soil packing towards
the base of the post socket. The cavity had later been filled with dark brown soil, pieces
of weathered sandstone and charcoal; in the brown soil fill, 6 in. (i5'2 cm) from the top
edge of the post cavity was a single sherd of quartz-tempered pottery.
Photo : H. C. Morris
Plate VIII. Truss 5 and north-west wall of east wing, from east.
IV
DISCUSSION
Interpretation of Pre-Hall Features
The earlier features found beneath the rammed clay and flagged floor of the timber-
framed hall were poorly preserved; areas to the north-east, south-east and south-west of
the cuttings, had been disturbed during the seventeenth-century reconstruction when
deep foundation trenches were cut to carry the 2 ft. (61 -o cm) thick sandstone rubble
BOOTHTOWN HALL I A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
73
foundation walls of the stone-built house. Sufficient remained, however, to indicate that
at least two structures had occupied the site prior to the construction of the timber-framed
hall. Of the first (Period I), only the floor of rammed yellow clay and a hearth had survived.
No foundation walls, sill beam or robber trenches were found in the excavated cuttings
that could be associated with the floor. The dimensions of the building are not known and
its use, suggested here as a house, can only be based on the abundance of pottery found
scattered on and above the floor and in association with the hearth. In the absence of
documentary evidence the dating of the house has been based on the ceramic material.
Certain sherds compare in fabric with wares of Upper Heaton type, tentatively dated to
the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries; a date close to c. 1300 is therefore suggested
for the occupation of House I.
The absence of demolition debris at the base of layer 4, cutting II, suggests that the
timber and/or stonework from House I was reused in Period II for the construction of
House II. House II had walls of vertical timber posts and a floor of rammed yellow clay;
it is uncertain what material was used to fill the spaces between the posts as no foundation
walls, wattle holes or daub were found. The roof was probably of thatch or wooden shingles
as no roofing slates were found in layer 3 over floor 2.
House II, as the archaeological evidence attests, remained in use for nearly a century,
until it was demolished m the fifteenth century to make way for the larger timber- framed
L-shaped hall. Houses I and II were probably minor dwellings in a larger settlement that
covered the lower slopes of Pepper Hill during the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Had it been possible to excavate under two late fourteenth-century timber-framed aisled
halls in Sladden Street to the south-west, a more complete picture as to the layout of this
primary settlement, m relationship to the smaller, more nucleated hamlet of late-fourteenth,
early-fifteenth century timber-framed halls, might have emerged.
The Timber-Framed L-shaped Hall
In i960 only one house based on the L-plan (High Bentley to the west of Halifax) was
listed among the many examples of aisled hall and H-shaped halls recorded in the ancient
parish of Halifax. High Bentley was described in detail by Atkinson and McDowall in
their paper on the Aisled Houses in the Halifax Area.1* The writers considered that the hall,
of aisled type, and of four bays with a service bay at the east end with a chamber over, had
been erected in the late fourteenth century, whilst a two-bay, two storey cross-wing, erected
on the site of the fourth or western bay, was certainly of the fifteenth century.17
Two questions arise after studying the framework of this house: (a) was the addition
of a cross-wing an innovation of the early fifteenth century? and (b) did the L-plan represent
an important, yet hitherto unrecognised typological development from the aisled hall-end
hall house to the H-shaped hall? In i960 no definite answer could have been given to this
first question, but as the recording of timber-framed buildings progressed between 1965-71,
it became apparent that halls laid out on the L-plan had been quite common in the eastern
part of the ancient parish of Halifax during the early fifteenth century.
Of the L-shaped halls recorded, Throstle Nest18 and Boothtown Hall were the most
complete. Both had halls of two bays, a service bay with a chamber over and a residential
wing. The most important constructional difference between Throstle Nest, Boothtown
16 Atkinson and McDowall (1967), pp. 81-5.
17 Atkinson and McDowall considered that the cross-wing had probably been erected in the first half of the
fifteenth century. They based their conclusions on the surviving constructional elements, e.g. stylobate blocks,
narrow studs, thin king posts and ridge braces, and by comparing these features with those found in a cross-
wing of a sixteenth-century L-plan house at Haigh’s Farm, Sowerby (Atkinson and MacDowall (1967), PP- 79~
81). Although the wing at High Bentley compares favourably with other buildings of fifteenth-century date
which are to be found in the Halifax area, no archaeological or documentary evidence was found by the authors
to confirm the suggested date.
18 ‘The Yorkshire Archaeological Register, 197 Y, Y.A.J. 44 (1972), p. 222, Fig. 1.
74
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Hall and High Bentley was the way in which the halls and wings were framed together.
At Boothtown Hall, the wall plate on the south-west side of the second bay of the hall
was recessed into the north-west post of truss 5 and pegged from the hall side ; studs were
inserted between the wall plate/middle rail of the north-west wall of the east wing and the
spaces filled with clay and straw. This method of joining the hall and wing together was
a feature which helped Atkinson and McDowall establish the two phase construction of
High Bentley. It is possible that the cross-wing at Boothtown Hall was an addition to an
end-hall house, although there was no evidence to suggest that this was so, nor was there
a striking difference in the style of the timber-framing of the hall and wing, apart from the
taller stylobate blocks in the wing compared with the single stylobate blocks and post
pits found in the hall and service bay. At Throstle Nest, however, the hall and wing
appeared to be contemporary ; the tie beam of the centre truss of the south wing continued
through as the wall plate on the west side of the hall and service bay, a constructional
feature which clearly indicates that both hall and wing were constructed at the same time.
At Boothtown Hall the carpenters had developed a simple method of framing the hall
and wmg together. The massive posts, heavy tie beams, thick king posts and the broad
Photo: H. C. Morris
Plate IX. Truss 6, with clay and straw filling, top left, and north-west wall of east wing, from south.
BOOTHTOWN HALL: A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
75
deep studs certainly suggest an intermediate stage in the development of the L-plan house
from High Bentley to Throstle Nest. The small quantity of late medieval coarse and fine
pottery recovered from the surface of floor 3 at Boothtown Hall suggests a date for the
construction of the house somewhere in the first half of the fifteenth century, although
the paucity of finds does not enable an accurate date to be ascribed to the house. Generally
speaking, it is at present impossible to apply precise dates, in the absence of good documen-
tary and/or archaeological evidence, to this class of building. At Throstle Nest the method
of framing the hall and wing together, cited above, was a constructional improvement,
and this method has been noted at the L-shaped houses of Haigh’s Farm, Sowerby19 and
by the writer at Storths Farm, Birkby,20 both dating to the mid-sixteenth-century. Typo-
logically, High Bentley might well represent the earliest phase in the development of the
L-plan house; Boothtown Hall the intermediate phase, and Throstle Nest and Haigh’s
Farm, the final stage, the whole series having a date range from the early fifteenth to the
sixteenth centuries, although this conclusion requires further substantiation.
The roof truss employed at High Bentley, Boothtown Hall, Throstle Nest and Haigh’s
Farm, was of king post type, the most common form of roof structure used in the Halifax
area and in the north-west generally; good examples of this type of roof have been identified
at Long Can, Ovenden,21 Lower High Sunderland in the Shibden Valley,22 a house in
Sladden Street, Boothtown,23 Fletcher House24 and Wormald Hall,25 Almondbury, Lees
Hall, Thornhill,26 and John Bunny’s House 27 and Haseldon Hall,28 Wakefield. At Booth-
town Hall the king posts had enlarged heads and were morticed into the tops of the tie
beams. The ridge pieces were recessed into the tops of the king posts and secured by pairs
of curved ridge braces. The purlins were recessed, to half their thickness, into the backs
of the principal rafters. This type of roof structure replaced in Calder Dale the trussed-
rafter roof, seen at Bentley Royd, but as Atkinson and McDowall argued, where and how
this type of roof truss evolved must remain in doubt.29
From the middle of the fifteenth century the FI-shaped hall predominated in Calder
Dale, and examples built about this time are Elland New Hall,30 and Shibden Hall.31
Some aisled-hall and end-hall houses, like White Hall, Ovenden32 were converted by the
addition of cross-wings into H-shaped halls, whilst others such as Broad Bottom,
Mytholmroyd,33 and Lower High Sunderland34 remained unaltered until they were
19 Atkinson and McDowall (1967), pp. 79-81, Figs. 3 and 4, PI. XVIII. d.
20 Storths Farm, Birkby (SE 134185) was recorded by the writer for the Tolson Memorial Museum in June 1973.
The present dwelling of stone, and of seventeenth-nineteenth century date, is built around the remains of
a sixteenth-century timber and stone built L-plan house with an open hall of two bays at its centre, a service
bay with a chamber over at the north-east end, and a two bay, two storey cross-wing on the south-west side;
the remains of a possible aisle or penthouse were identified on the north-west side of the house (Photographic
record in the Tolson Memorial Museum).
21 ‘Yorkshire Archaeology 1972’, C.B.A. Newsletter (1972), p. 8.
22 ‘The Yorkshire Archaeological Register, 197T, Y.A.J. 44 (1972), p. 223; ‘Post Medieval Britain in 1971’,
Post Med. A. 6 (1972), p. 217, Fig. 91.
23 Atkinson and McDowall (1967), Fig. 6. III.
24 Manby, T. G., ‘Fletcher House, Almondbury, A Late Medieval Timber-Framed Building near Huddersfield’,
Y.A.J. xli (1964), p. 299, Fig. 4, Pis. Ill and V.
25 Survey by the Tolson Memorial Museum.
26 Manby, T. G., ‘Lees Hall, Thornhill, A Medieval Timber-Framed Building in the West Riding of Yorkshire’,
Y.A.J. 43 (1971), pp. 115-24, Figs. 6-8, Pis. V and VI.
27 Bartlett, K. S., ‘John Bunny’s House, Wakefield’, Y.A.J. 44 (1972), pp. 147-52, Figs. 3-7.
28 Field, J. J., ‘Haseldon Hall, Wakefield’, Post Med. A. 3 (1969), pp. 188-90, Fig. 73.
29 Atkinson and McDowall (1967), pp. 93-4.
30 Walton, J., Early Timbered Buildings in the Huddersfield District (1955), p. 59, Fig. 26.
31 Innes, R. A., Shibden Hall, Halifax (1964), p. 5.
32 Survey by the writer; see note 12.
33 Stell, C., ‘Pennine Houses: An Introduction’, Folk Life 3 (1965), p. 69, Fig. 1.
34 Survey by the writer; see note 22.
76
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
encased in stone in the seventeenth century; where houses of these types have first been
converted by the addition of a cross-wing, into an L-shaped hall and later, by adding
a second cross-wing, into an H-shaped hall, there is little hope of identifying the inter-
mediate L-plan, particularly when the original end bays of the house have been demolished
and the hall and cross-wings are in no way joined together; a possible example of this type
Photo: H. C. Morris
Plate X. Truss 6; post and stylobate block, north-west side of east wing, from south.
of house, although badly mutilated during the seventeenth century is the now demolished
White Hall.35
The L-shaped halls cited probably belonged to middle-class families of similar social
standing to the Boothes and are ascribed on structural evidence to the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. That the L-shaped hall represents the intermediate stage between the aisled-hall
or end-hall house and the H-shaped hall is a matter of controversy and cannot be satisfac-
torily resolved until further L- and H-plan halls have been recorded and studied in detail.
35 Central hall demolished in 1970 and the standing cross-wings in 1972; see note 12.
BOOTHTOWN HALL! A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
77
V
THE FINDS
POTTERY
Introduction
The bulk of the pottery recovered from layers 3 and 4 and floors 1, 2 and 3 is in a heavily
gritted ware, belonging to the East Pennine gritty ware series. The tempering medium is
opaque angular and water-rolled quartz grains up to 1 mm in diameter and fine sand with
some shale inclusions either in particle or sheet form; these have fired to cream, pink and
deep red. There is a considerable variation in the amount and size of the quartz particles
in the clay. Thirteen grades are distinguished, but the divisions between each type fabric
are arbitrary.
The heavily quartz-gritted cooking pots in Fabric A (with thickened and everted rims)
are precisely matched at Holdsworth among the late thirteenth-century fabrics and among
the early fourteenth-century wares from Houses I-X, Gaol Lane, Halifax.36 The gritty-
ware pottery is certainly of local manufacture and Fabric J, a hard cream-white ware with
quartz and sand tempering and with a mottled green-yellow glaze, is typified by the fabric
of the baluster and ovoid jugs from the Upper Heaton kilns, near Huddersfield,37 whilst the
coarse ware cooking pots and storage jars can again be matched at Upper Heaton,38 but
are closer to the products of the Baildon and Brunthwaite kilns, although many other kilns
in the West Riding are known to have been producing vessels in similar fabrics during the
first half of the fourteenth century.
The better-quality wares had been obtained from a more distant source, probably from
kilns operating closer to the mouth of the River Humber. Some of the fifteenth- and
sixteenth-century vessels are in lightly-gritted fabrics (Fabrics, H, O, P and R) and are
again likely to be of local manufacture, whilst the finer wares, as in the Middle Ages, were
obtained from manufacturing centres outside the region. The pattern of trade during the
fourteenth to sixteenth centuries indicates that coarse ware products, e.g. cooking pots
and storage jars, were supplied by local potters whilst the higher quality wares, e.g. glazed
bowls and jugs were imported from centres which specialised in the production of finer
quality wares.
The Type Fabrics
Thirteenth to Fourteenth Centuries
Fabric A Orange gritted with angular quartz fragments, some shale inclusions. Six sherds (Fig. 12. 1, 15).
Fabric B Soft, orange, less angular quartz grits, some fine sand. Four sherds (Fig. 12. 3, 7, 8).
Fabric C Flard cream-pink-orange, grey-brown core, quartz grits with some fine sand and shale inclusions.
Three sherds (Fig. 12. 2, 5, 11).
Fabric D Soft orange, some opaque water-rolled quartz grains, but fine sand predominating. Four sherds.
Fabric E Soft orange-cream, grey core. One sherd.
Fabric F Soft orange-brown, one sherd with grey interior, fine sand tempering with some coarse quartz grains.
Two sherds.
Fabric G Orange-brown, corky, tempered with fine sand and occasional coarse quartz particles. One sherd
(Fig. 12. 19).
Fabric H Hard, quartz gritted with some shale particles, variable colour range. Eleven sherds (Fig. 12. 12).
Fabric I Pink exterior, cream interior, grey core, tempered with fine sand, opaque water-rolled quartz grains
and shale fragments. One sherd.
Fabric J Hard off-white, one sherd with mottled green-yellow glaze on exterior, fine quartz tempering with
some shale inclusions. Three sherds; possibly Upper Heaton Ware.
Fabric K Soft buff-pink-grey with cream-grey core, tempered with angular and water-rolled quartz grains.
Two sherds (Fig. 12. 4).
Fabric L Hard off-white to pinkish-cream, tempered with fine sand and angular quartz particles. One sherd
(Fig. 12. 6).
Fabric M Dark grey with outer pale grey surface. One sherd (Fig. 12. 9).
36 Tolson Memorial Museum, collection.
37 Manby, T. G., ‘Medieval Pottery Kilns at Upper Heaton, West Yorkshire’, Arch. J. cxxi (1964), pp. 82, 85,
Fig. 8. 1-4.
38 Ibid., p. 90, Figs. 11 and 12.
78
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Fig. 12. Medieval and Post-Medieval pottery from Boothtown Hall. 1-14; Trench I; is-18, Trench IF 10
Trench III.
Fifteenth to Sixteenth Centuries
Fabric N Hard orange with purple interior and exterior surfaces covered by a thin dark grey slip. Tempered with
angular quartz grains. One sherd.
Fabric O Hard orange with reddish-brown exterior, grey core, quartz tempered. One sherd (Fig. 12. 13).
Fabric P Soft pale grey with purple-grey exterior and cream-grey interior covered with a blistered purple-brown
glaze; tempered with shale fragments and fine sand. One sherd (Fig. 12. 14).
Fabric Q Hard pale grey core with buff-grey interior, off-white exterior, tempered with fine sand. One sherd
(Fig. 12. 17).
Fabric R Soft grey-orange, with external brown-red-purple surface, fine sand inclusions. One sherd (Fig. 12. 18).
Fabric S Hard buff-orange, with dark orange core. Two sherds, possibly Humber Ware (Fig. 12. 16).
Fabric T Hard dark grey with pale grey exterior. One sherd.
Fabric U Hard cream-buff with pale grey core and mottled brown-green-yellow glazed outer surface. Two
sherds.
BOOTHTOWN HALL! A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
79
Late Sixteenth to Mid-Seventeenth Centuries
Fabric W Hard deep brown-purple with dark grey outer slip. One sherd (Fig. 12. 10).
Fabric X Soft orange with darker orange exterior, pale translucent orange-yellow glaze on interior. Possibly
Pule Hill Ware, c. 1650.
CATALOGUE
Thirteenth to Fourteenth-Century Pottery
Trench I: Layer 4, above floor 1
Fabric L, cooking pot rim, everted with rounded external face, internal bevel (Fig. 12. 4).
Hollow
Fabric B, one sherd.
Fabric E, one sherd.
Fabric F, one sherd.
Fabric I, one sherd.
Layer 3, brown soil above floor 2
Fabric A, cooking pot rim (Fig. 12. 1).
Fabric B, everted cooking pot rim (Fig. 12. 3).
,, everted bowl rim (Fig. 12. 8).
Fabric C, cooking pot rim, everted with rounded external face, slight internal bevel (Fig. 12. 5).
,, base of cooking pot (Fig. 12. 11).
Fabric H, base of cooking pot, orange-brown surfaces, three splashes of yellow glaze on exterior (Fig.
12. 12).
Fabric M, jug rim, remains of a thin decayed pale yellow glaze on exterior (Fig. 12. 9).
Fabric O, base of cooking pot (Fig. 12. 13).
Pottery from patched area of floor 3
Fabric B, bowl or storage jar with flanged rim (Fig. 12. 7).
Fabric L, cooking pot rim, everted with rounded external face (Fig. 12. 6).
Not illustrated
Eighteen wall sherds belonging to cooking pots and storage jars in Fabrics A, B, D, F, H and M.
Layer 2, above floor 3
Fabric C, cooking pot rim, thickened with rounded external face (Fig. 12. 2).
Trench II: base of layer 3
Fabric A, cooking pot rim, everted with internal bevel (Fig. 12. 15).
Fabric S, part of the base and body of a Humber Ware jug with rough knife trimming round base
angle (Fig. 12. 16). This vessel can be paralleled with similar examples from the Holme-on-
Spalding Moor39 and West Cowick40 kilns, both working in the mid-fourteenth centuries,
and with two Humber Ware jugs, one from the churchyard at Riccall, E.R.41, and the second
from Skipton-on-Swale, N.R.42
Not illustrated
Fabric A, single sherd belonging to the neck of a cooking pot.
Fabric H, cooking pot base, brown exterior, orange interior, grey core. Sherd of buff-orange ware,
carbonised exterior.
Trench III : Layer 3, brown soil fill of post hole
Fabric A, wall sherd.
Layer 3
Fabric G, cooking pot base (Fig. 12. 19).
Fifteenth to Sixteenth Centuries
Trench I : Layer 2, above floor 3
Fabric P, base of dish (Fig. 12. 14).
Fabric W, oval sectioned strap handle (Fig. 12. 10).
Not illustrated
Fabric N, six wall sherds belonging to a cooking pot.
Fabric O, base of dish.
Trench II: top of layer 3
Fabric Q, part of the neck and body of an ovoid jug (Fig. 12. 17).
Fabric R, strap handle; traces of a purple-brown glaze on underside (Fig. 12. 18).
Not illustrated
Fabric H, base of cooking pot in a light orange ware, grey core.
Fabric T, a single sherd belonging to the neck of an ovoid jug, decorated with an incised wavy line on
the upper part; traces of a thin decayed orange-yellow glaze on exterior.
Fabric U, two sherds belonging to the same vessel, possibly a dish or shallow bowl.
,, wall sherd.
Seventeenth-Century Pottery
Trench II: Pit
Fabric X, open bowl.
39 Mayes, P., ‘A Late Medieval Kiln at Holme-on-Spalding Moor’, Hull Museum Publications, no. 216 (forthcoming).
40 ‘Medieval Britain in 1963’, A led. A. 8 (1964), p. 297.
41 Wenham, L. P., ‘Seven Archaeological Discoveries in Yorkshire’, Y.A.J. xl (i960), p. 300, Fig. 2.
42 Thompson, J. P. A., Inventory of British Coin Hoards, A.D. 600-1300 (1956), pp. 124-5, no. 33T PE IV. c.
8o
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
GLASS
Trench III: cement layer
Fragments of heavily pitted green window glass were recovered from the mid-seventeenth century construction
debris.
Nineteenth-century filling of the foundation trench
Fragments ot a bottle in pale blue glass with cylindrical neck and body, some vitrification on the exterior; possibly
mid-nineteenth century.
0
« — I i 1 1 L
?Cms. <L
3
Ins.
Fig. 13. Iron objects from Boothtown Flail. 1 and 2, Trench I; 3 and 4, Trench II; 5-9, Trench III.
IRON
Badly corroded iron nails were found in Trench I, layer 2 (Fig. 13. 1); Trench II, layer 3 (Fig. 13.3 and 4); Trench
III, layer 3 (Fig. 13. 6) and in the nineteenth-century filling of the foundation trench (Fig. 13. 5).
Trench I: layer 3 below floor 3
Fragment of a badly corroded knife blade 4-7 cm long, with triangular sectioned blade (Fig. 13. 7).
Trench II: layer 3
A badly corroded bolt, 12-8 cm long, square section.
Trench III: seventeenth-century pit
Tool; corroded sheeting, triangular section with a rectangular sectioned ? handle, 6-2 cm long; use unknown
(Fig. 13. 7).
Fragment of a heavily oxidised mid-seventeenth century key with broken bow (Fig. 13. 9).
Layer 3
Part of the blade and handle of an eighteenth-century knife with wooden scales, held in position by a bronze rivet
0-2 cm diameter (Fig. 13. 8).
IRON SLAG
By K. S. Siddiqui
Four fragments of iron slag from the first bay of the hall, trench I, floor 3, were submitted for analysis; the
results may be conveniently summarised in list form:
Spinel-fayalite-rich scoriaceous slag (I.G.S. Ref. No. NEQ. 2101)
This is grey-black, highly vesicular scoriaceous spinel-rich slag of very low density showing a foliated structure.
The vesicles are filled with carbonaceous and argillaceous matter together with amorphous iron oxide. The thin
section also shows patches of fayalite with magnetite inclusions and perfectly rounded to elongated voids varying
in length from less than 2 mm to more than 12 mm. The intervoidal areas are filled with massive to well-
crystallized spinel associated with a turbid mixture of clay and iron oxide. Patches of light yellow spinel show
a characteristic overgrowth of concentric roms of? glassy material marked by a radial, fibrous structure of individual
or compound accicular crystals, also of ? glass. Rounded grains of highly fragmented quartz, most probably from
the bloomery, and mixed during smelting, are scattered in the intervoidal zones of the slag.
Scattered patches of fresh organic matter, filling the cavities, occur with the patches of fayalite slag.
The most likely spinel material, based on mineral composition, is gahnite, confirmed by an X-ray powder
BOOTHTOWN HALL I A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE
8 I
pattern of a channel sample taken across the foliated structure which showed a predominance ot iayahtc and
spinel, with subordinate quartz, mixed clay mineral and kaolinite.
(I.G.S. Ref. Nos. NEQ. 2102 and NEQ. 2103)
These specimens are similar to NEQ. 2101 except that they show the presence ot amorphous orange to
brownish-red, slightly concretionary matter (? organic) freshly grown in contact with the black spinel-slag.
X-ray powder photographs (NEX. 1534 and 1535) of the slags as a whole showed identical patterns of magnesian
spinel and quartz.
Fayalite-rich iron slags oj high density (I.G.S. Ref. No. NEQ. 2104)
This black, botryoidal, granular fayalite (Fe2Si04) slag of high density speckled with reddish-brown iron oxide
and charged with gas cavities some of which show churned carbonaceous fillings together with amorphous orange-
red-opaque? (iron oxide) matter. The thin section cut shows a predominance of highly birefringent, pale greenish-
yellow slender crystals of fayalite, generally elongated along a central axis with an abundance of magnetite inclusions.
The voids vary from small rounded to irregular large and amygdaloidal (up to 12 mm long). X-ray powder
film (NEX. 1536) showed a predominance of fayalite with a slight trace of wustite (FeO).
Conclusions: The low density of the specimens (NEQ. 2101-3) and their scoriaceous form suggests that they are
most probably slags resulting from bloomeries and formed at very high temperatures. The latter is clearly indicated
by the presence of spinel and fayalite, both of which are high temperature minerals. The slags could have formed
as an oxidation product of alumina-iron and magnesium-rich salts in reaction with the residual silicates. The
organic matter is of course totally adventitious, as also are the quartz grains which may have been incorporated
from the sides of the bloomery.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to record my thanks to Mr J. L. Berbiers, late Architect to Halifax Corporation, for permission to
record Boothtown Hall; to Dr E. A. Gee, Messrs T. W. French and D. W. Black, of the Royal Commission on
Historical Monuments (England) for advice on the H-shaped halls referred to in this paper and to Mr. K. S. Siddiqui,
Institute of Geological Sciences, Leeds for the specialist report on the iron slag. I am deeply indebted to Mr
H. C. Morris of the Halifax Photographic Society for providing the photographs used in this report and to Mr
A. Bettridge, of the Central Library, Halifax, for information relating to the Boothe family. The following
individuals assisted in the excavation: Messrs G. Chambers, S. Crowther, I. D. Francis and C. ^X/llton.
82
CHEESECAKE HALL, OULTON, WEST RIDING
By Kenneth Hutton
Summary Cheesecake Hall, now derelict, is an early sixteenth-century timber-framed house, originally single-
storeyed and ot four bays, altered in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Its structure and affinities are examined
and illustrated.
In the winter of 1972-73, vandals began stripping the roof tiles from a building on the
A642 road from Oulton to Wakefield, just opposite the junction with Pennington Lane
(SE 360269). This revealed the building (Fig. 3) to be a late medieval house; within an
area of three square miles, seven other timber-framed houses are known, but none quite
like this. It is built of shaley sandstone, rendered at the front with pebble-dash, and roofed
with stone slates. It incorporates three trusses of timber building. It faces south, and stands
in a lonely position outside Oulton village with its west gable end towards the road. There
are three ground-floor rooms, and only one upper one, a later addition over the eastern
room. There are outshots along the back (north) of the house, and farm buildings extending
in a line east from it. The house has lain empty for ten years, and is in a derelict or ruinous
condition. „ ^ _
N 0 10 Feet
CHEESECAKE HALL, OULTON, WEST RIDING
83
The Timber Trusses (Fig. 1, Plan)
The first truss is incorporated in the west gable wall, and has been much damaged by
the addition of a window and fireplaces at different times. There is a stone chimney outside
the north part of the west gable wall, which must have served a hearth no longer in
evidence; probably the absence of a brace, for which peg holes can be seen below the
tie-beam at this end, is due to a former fireplace here. At present, there are remains of a
central fireplace, with a modern brick chimney stack outside the gable. At some earlier
date there was an upper window in the west gable end, which is now blocked with bricks,
and it was probably when this window was made that the lower part of the king post was
cut away some 18 in. below its apex and all the four gable studs removed. Linked with the
making of this window are notches cut in the tie-beams of trusses 1 and 2 to rest floor-
joists on, thus making an upper room in the roof space this end. There is no floor there now,
but light joists merely sufficient to carry a ceiling, and it is impossible to tell how this attic
room was reached from the parlour below. There is no way through the upper part of
truss 2.
0
0"
10 Feet
3 Metres
B
Fig. 2. Cheesecake Hall, Oulton, Section A-B.
The second truss (Fig. 2, section) forms a partition between the parlour and the
houseplace. The top of the truss, which is grooved for infill and is still partly filled with
horizontal split laths and a yellowish daub, has only two vertical studs. Below the
tiebeam are five such studs, their lower ends pegged into a middle rail. In the soffit of this
rail, however, are no mortices or grooves for any further original timber walling. At some
later date, the rail has had a narrow post wedged below it forming the jamb for a door,
and into this is set another lower rail of slighter scantling. Small square-section studs are
tenoned into this lower rail (not pegged) and butted up against the middle rail ; across them
are halved similar horizontals, nailed at each crossing, to form a lattice of tiny panels,
filled in with a brownish daub with plenty of straw in it. Underneath the bottom rail,
the partition is blocked with recent brickwork. In the southern wall-post of this truss
can be seen the pegs for the tenon of the middle rail in the front wall, below the level of
the middle rail of the truss.
The third truss is towards the eastern end of the houseplace or kitchen; it has three
scored upright strokes marked near the north end of its tie-beam. In its upper part, grooved
and infilled as for truss 2, are four studs as in truss 1 ; and also as in truss 1 there are braces
below the tie-beam. The single pair of side-purlins runs from truss 1 to truss 3, the chamfers
stopped at each side of each truss with a plain stop, and there are windbraces at each truss
to the purlin (Fig. 3) ; but when they come to truss 3 the purlins are cut off just beyond the
principal rafters on both sides, and there are no windbraces on the east face of truss 3 nor
mortices for them. Similarly at the same point east of truss 3, the north wall-plate has been
cut. The wall-plate and purlins continue eastwards, constructed in re-used timbers from
84
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
other positions; they are roughly jointed to the original plate and overlap the original
purlins. Some of the common rafters here are re-used, too. The northern wall-post of this
truss remains embedded in the wall where it can be detected but unfortunately not
examined, and the southern post has been cut off to allow a window to be made
underneath it.
The Stonework
The house is walled in a shaley sandstone all round, except for a short part of the north
wall between the straight joints marked on the plan (Fig. i) to the east of the third truss,
where it is built in brick and incorporates a small square blocked window. The present main
entrance is from the south into the kitchen; there is also an entrance into the eastern room,
and from there into the kitchen by a passage beside the stack. This chimney stack is built
of brick, and the rafters have been cut away to allow it to go through the roof. The eastern
room has another chimney on its eastern wall. The north wall of the house at this part is
of two builds, the upper part being of better squared stone. In this upper part is the only
chamber, reached by a stair north of the kitchen fireplace. On the south, pebble-dashed,
wall the horizontal break in construction is concealed, but a vertical crack in the rendering
denotes a break in the masonry between this room and the kitchen.
The two outshots were walled in stone. That on the east is quite ruinous but the western
part was apparently divided into two rooms, the one to the east having a cellar below. It
is not clear now which door from the kitchen led to the cellar and which to the room above
it; both of these rooms must have been very low. There is a complete absence of any
timber work in the outshots, and the backs of the posts cannot be seen from there.
Discussion
This seems to have been a timber-framed house of four bays divided into three rooms,
on one floor only. To the west was a parlour, and in the middle a house-place of one full
and one half bay. It is suggested that the half-bay east of truss 3, which has had its roof
rebuilt, originally contained a timber firehood; but there is no way of proving if this was
so or not because the surviving post in truss 3 cannot be examined. If there was such a hood,
there must have been a rail in this truss to form the fireplace, and on this rail the timbers
CHEESECAKE HALL, OULTON, WEST RIDING
85
of the hood would rest, sloping backwards behind the upper part of the truss to form a
chimney. Probably there would be a passage on one or both sides of the fire. This inter-
pretation is suggested, although the grounds are inadequate, because there is no soot
encrustation in the roof timbers anywhere, so there cannot have been an open fire;
on the other hand, the existing chimney stack is of later brickwork.
It is also likely that the third ground floor room, now built in stone with a chimney in
its outer gable, replaces a third timber-framed room used as the service end of the house.
Into this end would be the original entrance, where there is now a door. There was at least
one further truss of timber framing infilled with six studs, because its tie-beam with appro-
priate mortices as well as mortices for braces below and for a kingpost and rafters on the
upper surface, had been re-used as a purlin in the eastern outshot and now lies on the
around there. From the appearance of the additional length of wall-plate in the north
wall, it might represent part of yet another trimmed tie-beam, but only one surface of it
can be seen so this is not certain. The head of a south-east corner wall-post was also found
lying on the ground.
The original structure of the lower part of truss 2, which divides the parlour from the
houseplace, and the position of the original door between these rooms, appear to have
left no traces.
Dating
This is the only house m the Whst Riding known to the present writer that seems clearly
to have been built as a single-storey dwelling, though farm-houses in the different timber
tradition of the Vale of York1 are sometimes single-storey throughout up to quite a late
date. The character of the timberwork does not give a very clear indication of date. Its
most striking feature is the continuously regular reverse taper of the kingpost (Fig. 2).
While most kingposts are thicker at the top than at the bottom, this is usually achieved by
a taper in the upper half only of the kingpost. But kingposts with a continuous taper similar
to that seen here have been noted at Long Can, Ovenden,2 at Throstle Nest, Halifax, c. 1450*
and at Haigh’s Farm, Sowerby, dated early sixteenth century.4 The studs above the tie-
beam are all vertical, which may perhaps be considered a late feature, cf. Storths Farm,
Birkby for which a sixteenth-century date seems probable.
Taken together, these parallels suggest an early sixteenth-century date for the original
build. The alterations to the lower part of truss 2 must have been made about the
late seventeenth century, judging by the nailed timber lattice and its infill, and the parlour
fireplace in the north-west corner may be attributed to roughly the same period from the
appearance of what remains of its stack. The upper floor here was a later insertion, but at
what period it was made and when removed cannot now be ascertained.
When the service end was rebuilt in stone with a gable-end fireplace, the tie-beam there
was released to act as purlin in the north east outshot, which was needed for storage now
that the eastern room was heated. The north-west outshot with its cellar cannot have been
built until after it had become necessary to replace most of the north wall of the house in
stone. It is difficult to date the now ruinous brick chimney in the houseplace, but the bricks
may be early eighteenth-century ones. Either the brick part of the north wall (which is
very thick), was the last part to need replacement, perhaps because it had been the first to
have the protection of an outshot, or it was damaged in removing the timber firehood.
However, the brickwork here seems later than that of the chimney.
The addition of an upper floor at the east end probably dates from the first half of the
1 Hutton, B., ‘Timber framed houses in the Vale of York’, Medieval Archaeol. XVII (forthcoming).
2 Ex Inf., Gilks, J. A., Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield.
3 ‘Yorkshire Archaeological Register, 1971’, Y.A.J. 44 (i972)> P- 222-
4 Atkinson, F. and McDowall, R. W., ‘Aisled Houses in the Halifax Area’, Antiq.J. XLVII (1967), P- 94-
86
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
nineteenth century, judging from the stonework and the iron grate in the upper room. It
is not possible to estimate when the south timber wall was replaced in stone since it is
concealed by pebble-dash.
I am grateful to Barbara Hutton for discussion of the building and to Hugh Hutton
for the drawings.
87
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK,
1547-1586
By D. M. Palliser
Summary Between 1547 and 1586 one third of the parishes of York were united to others and most of their parish
churches were demolished. The process by which the corporation organised this is described, the varying fates of
the 14 churches involved are examined, and the text of the act of union is given.
The city of York lost a great many of its ecclesiastical establishments during the
Reformation: all of its monasteries, friaries and chantries, and some of its many colleges,
chapels, gilds and hospitals, were suppressed by the crown, and their revenues confiscated.1
This was the common fate of all the larger towns; but what was unusual about York was
that in the midst of these suppressions the city corporation, empowered by parliament and
aided by the church, organized a dissolution of its own. One third of the city’s large
complement of parish churches were suppressed, and their parishes united to others. The
process must have affected the citizens more than any of the crown’s confiscations, with the
possible exception of the dissolution of the chantries, yet the actual course of events has
remained rather obscure. The suppressions were authorized in 1547 but not finally ratified
until 1586, and it has never been made clear precisely when the various condemned churches
were closed and demolished, or when the parishioners starting attending the churches to
which they were allocated. A full answer is not possible from the surviving evidence, but an
attempt is made here to relate the history of this unusual event in more detail than
previously; and Appendix I gathers together the available references to the individual
churches.
I
It is certain that York was ‘over-churched’ by the time of the Reformation. Although
five churches (not all parochial) had been closed in the fourteenth century,2 there were still
forty parish churches in use between the early fifteenth and the early sixteenth centuries,
a period which saw York’s prosperity decay and its population fall by about one third.3
If Bartlett’s estimates of population are correct, the ratio of parish churches to total
population fell from over 1:300 in the early fifteenth century to 1:200 in 1548.
During this period the capital was somehow found to extend and rebuild many of the
churches; but there was a limit to what could be achieved after about 1450, when economic
conditions worsened. Some churches still enjoyed lavish bequests, but others were neglected.
Indeed, some of the churches to be suppressed in 1547-86 may have been disused for some
time, the evidence being clearest for St. John’s, Peaseholme, closed perhaps as early as the
1490’s. Where churches remained in use, their large number meant a thin spread of tithes
and bequests; in 1535 York, about the same size as Exeter, had double its number of parishes,
1 Palliser, D. M., The Reformation in York 1534-1553 (Borthwick Papers, No. 40, 1971), passim.
2 St. Benet, St. Mary-ad-Valvas, St. Mary Walmgate, St. Michael-without-Walmgate, St. Stephen Fishergate.
Parochial status has not been established for all five, but The Victoria Country History: City of York (ed. Tillott,
P. M., 1961), p. 3 66 goes too far in calling St. Mary-ad-Valvas non-parochial. Its boundaries were still marked
on the 1852 O.S. plan, which suggests former parochial status.
3 Bartlett, J. N., ‘The Expansion and Decline of York in the later Middle Ages’, Economic History Review
N.S. XII (1959-60), pp. 25-33. However, J. H. Harvey has shown, from a figure of 1396, that Dr. Bartlett’s
medieval estimate may be too low: du Boulay, F. R. H. and Barron, C. M. (Eds.), The Reign of Richard II:
Essays in honour of May McKisack (1971), p. 210. This would imply an even steeper late medieval population
decline.
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK, I547-I586
89
and it is significant that its average parish living was only half as wealthy. The leading
citizens and clergy of York may therefore have shown great interest in a statute of 1545,
discussed below, which authorized unions between churches where they were poor and
close together. But if they did, they plainly wanted some more specific cover for their
actions than a general statute, and in 1547 a local act was passed for the uniting of certainc
churches within the Citie of Yorcke .4 5
This occurred during the first session of Edward Vi’s first parliament (4 Nov. - 24 Dec.
i547), in which the city was represented by Thomas Gargrave, a member of the Council in
the North (and vice-president 1555-79) and Alderman William Holme barber and wax
chandler.6 Holme, a York native and an alderman since 1540. was one of the most power u
and wealthy men in the city. On 3 February 1 547 he had completed a year of office as mayor
and he was now serving in the first of five parliaments as M P. for York, a career which
made him much respected at home, and which was crowned with success when he twice
persuaded Mary’s government to reduce the city’s tax.7 The corporation s instructions to
Holme and Gargrave, on 8 October 1547, did not mention any churches bill, but it is clear
that it was they who, either at the start of the session or perhaps later decided to use
parliament to press for one. We know this because on 8 March 1548 Sir Martin Bowes, ; a
London alderman but a native of York, wrote to the York corporation to plead for the
preservation of St. Cuthbert’s church. In the course of his letter he reminded them
that at the last session of Parliament ther passed an Acte concernyng the unyon of churches in Yorke, whiche
acte at the request of the right worshipfull Master Holmes, Alderman of York, I put. my good wyll with all
the helpe of my freynds to sett forwards.8 9
Their good will was plainly speedy in producing results. The bill passed its three readings
in the Commons on 28 November, 16 December and 20 December; was hastily sent to the
Lords; and on Christmas Eve there was time for it to be passed by the Lords with amend-
ments, sent to the Commons and back, finally passed, and given the royal assent When
Holme reported to the corporation on 2 January, he was able to produce a text ot the act,
which was immediately copied into the minutes.10
The preamble recited that York contained many parish churches which, when the city
had been more populous, were ‘good and honnest Livmges for learned Incumbentes, by
reasone of the Privy Tythes of the riche marchauntes and of the Offerynges of a great
multitude.’ Now, however, ‘divers’ of the benefices were not worth more than 265 8 d a year
clear. No one would take them but chantry priests and pensioned monks or canons, which
for the most parte ar unlearned and verie ignoraunte’, and so the laity were kept m ignorance
of their duties to God and the king, to the great danger of their souls.11 It was therefore
enacted that the mayor, recorder, archbishop and six justices of peace m the city (the mayor
and twelve aldermen were ex officio the city’s J.P.’s) could unite parishes at their discretion
provided that no united benefice exceeded £20 a year m value. The mayor, recorder an
six aldermen (justices) were also empowered to demolish any superfluouse churches and
to use the materials for repairs to other churches or to the city bridges, or for the relief of the
poor ; and to allocate the advowsons of the united churches between the patrons ot al t e
churches involved.
4 Palliser, D. M., Reformation in York, p. 3.
• Statutes of, he Realm , IV, pp. 14-1 5- A copy, with slight differences in wording, occurs in co-poration , minutes,
and is printed in York Civic Records, (Ed.) Raine, A., IV (Yorks. Arch. Soc. Record Senes, CVIII, 1945), PP-,6S 9-
• York Civic Rec. IV, p. 164 and n.
7 See his biography in the forthcoming History of Parliament 1509-58, Bindoff, S. T. (Ed.).
8 York Civ. Rec. IV, p. 173-
9 Journals of the House of Commons, I, pp. 2, 3. Journals of the House of Lords, I, pp. 311, 3^3-
10 York Civ. Rec. IV, pp. 168-9. , . , . . n ir 0
1. Certainly there were cantarists and ex-monastics holding several of the York livings at this time: Palliser, D.M.,
Reformation in York, pp. 4, 12-14, 23.
90
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
II
Consideration of the scheme of union began at once. The letter of Sir Martin Bowes,
already quoted, was read to a meeting of the corporation on 16 March 1 548, and they ‘dyd
fully consent and agree’ to his gentle request’ that St. Cuthbert’s should not be one of the
churches condemned. On 27 July the corporation discussed the issue again, and agreed that
the mayor might sell ‘after his dyschession’ [sic] the churches of St. Peter-the-Little, St.
Clement, and probably others.12 On 11 January 1549 they decided that four of their
members could buy at low prices the sites and yards of St. Wilfrid, St. Peter-the-Little,
St. Petcr-le- Willows and St. Gregory, but that each purchaser was to pay for a legal
assurance to be drawn up by learned counsel.13 The repetition of this proviso in every case
suggests some fear lest the sales be invalid, and certainly the later history of St. Wilfrid’s
points to resistance to the transaction.
All these steps were taken by members of the corporation at their own meetings. Not until
12 January 1549 is there any record of a decision validated by the consent of the archbishop,
as the act of 1547 required. On that day the mayor, recorder and six aldermen, together
with Archbishop Holgate, met to decide on a scheme of union, and agreed that fifteen
parishes should be amalgamated with others.14 This was clearly not intended to be a final
scheme, and consideration was postponed in the case of one union as to which of the two
churches concerned should be suppressed. In August two of the January committee rode to
Holgate at Cawood to ask who shalbc his graces deputy for unytyng of churches’, and to
request that one of the unions agreed be amended to prevent the union of two parishes in
two different wards.15 No more was recorded about the scheme in the corporation minutes
until 3 April 1551, when two aldermen were again instructed to ride to the archbishop. The
occasion for this deputation was the need to prevent some York parishioners from stripping
their churches of lead, but the opportunity was taken to press for ratification of the parish
unions: the two were to break unto my sayd lord archcbisshop for a sufficient boke to be
made concernyng the unyons of certaync cherchcs within this citie by late Acte of
ol^atc hi ms elf may have been the cause of the delay, especially
as both the 1549 and 1551 deputations were to press him on whether he wanted to buy one
of the suppressed churches, St. John-del-Pyke; he was clearly in no hurry. And as late as
14 July 1553 the corporation still had only a draft deed of union, which they wished to be
‘wrytten up and made perfect accordyng to the said Acte’, once the mayor had spoken with
the archbishop about sparing one of the fifteen condemned churches.17 So perhaps the
corporation were themselves dilatory. At any rate, the accession of Mary had already
occurred without the scheme having been formally ratified.
It is certain, however, that what the corporation were anxious to do was to protect
themselves at law by a formal endorsement of actions already taken; for in the case of
fourteen of the suppressed churches (Appendix I, Nos. 1-14), there is no evidence that they
were ever in use after the reign of Edward VI, and some had already been wholly or partly
demolished. Two (Nos. 1, 2) had been connected with religious houses, and may have
become disused at the time of the monastic dissolutions, although both were included in the
12 York Civ. Rec. IV, pp. 173, 179. The original of the latter (York City Archives, 13 19, f. 28v) shows ‘Clemynthorpe’
followed by a comma and a blank space, and then room is left tor four or five more lines of such entries.
13 Verb Civ. Rec. V, p. 4; York City Archives, U19, f. 46r. The entry originally allotted ‘Clemynthorpe’ to
Goldthorpc, but this name was struck out and ‘Saynt Wylfrydes’ substituted.
14 C'v' ^ ec ' V’4P- 5- Tfe printed text is substantially correct, except that the value of St. Wilfrid’s is given
as ‘xis’ instead of ‘xK. The minute is dated 12 May, apparently in error for January.
15 Ibid. p. 18, which misprints the date of the meeting as 19 (for 9) August. The date of the Cawood meeting is a
small puzzle. O11 9 August the two were told to go there ‘uppon Monday next’ (12 August) but f. 82r, in an
entry not printed by Rainc, dates the Cawood visit as occurring straightaway on 9 August.
16 York City Archives, B20, f-5ir. York Civ. Rec. V, p. 54, alters the sense by omitting a line.
17 York Civ. Rec. V, p. 90. ‘Viewe’ (line 3) is a misreading for ‘union’.
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK, I547-I586
91
1549 scheme of unions as if they were still in use as parish churches. Some of the rest may
have fallen out of use before the 1547 act, but others were clearly still functioning, with
priests still being appointed to them and parishioners still asking for burial in them. The last
such references occur early in 1549: St. John-del-Pyke was still a living parish in January,
and St. Helen-on-the- Walls in April. Another church, St. Helen Stoncgate, seems to have
gone out of use at the same time but, as will be seen, it was the only one to have its
suppression later reversed.
At the same time as these churches were united, the fabrics were sold off: clearly the
corporation had no intention of waiting for formal ratification of the unions before
proceeding to the sales. At first they apparently intended to secure maximum prices, but
they soon agreed to sell instead, mainly to their own members, very cheaply. St. Peter-thc-
Little, priced at -£40 in July 1548, was in fact sold to the common (town) clerk six months
later for a mere £1 6s 8 d. The price of St. Wilfrid’s, ^30 for church and parsonage in
December 1548, was reduced to £\o for the church site alone, but it was finally bought
outright by a future alderman for only £ 2 . The price fixed initially for St. Helen Stoncgate
and St. John Hungatc was ^43 15 5 the pair; the actual sums paid arc not recorded, but
doubtless these figures also were reduced. In all, between 1549 and 1554, six churches were
sold to members of the corporation for a total of only -£10 is 8 d, a seventh to the mayor
for an undisclosed sum, and an eighth to Holgate for £5. 18 Some of the other sites were
retained in the corporation’s hands and leased out.
Again leaving apart St. Helen Stoncgate, the churches seem mostly to have been
demolished soon after being sold. This has usually to be inferred from negative evidence,
though St. Peter-lc-Willows was clearly stated to have been ‘pulled downe’ in the early
fifties. The ruined walls of St. Helen-on-the-Walls were still standing in 1580, and the tower
of St. Peter-the-Littlc in 1567 and probably in 1584. But the only fabric to survive to the
present day, after a variety of uses, is that of St. Andrew’s, St. Andrewgate.
The position at the death of Edward VI, then, was that fifteen churches had been
suppressed, and in many cases sold and demolished, out of the late medieval total of forty,
while another two, or three, had been condemned and then reprieved. But the corporation
had been right to show anxiety for a legal endorsement of their actions, since the accession
of Mary jeopardized the whole project. The resolution of 14 July 1553 to endorse the draft
scheme was forgotten, and although there was no wholesale reversal of the unions, the
time was evidently ripe for counter-action by aggrieved parishioners. One such parish was
St. Wilfrid’s which had a long history of opposition to the union, lasting until at least 1587.
The original corporation proposal to sell its church envisaged that the purchasers might
not be able to enjoy it peaceably; and resistance there probably was. At all events Richard
Goldthorpe, who arranged to buy it in 1549, was not able to complete the transaction until
1554: or rather, perhaps, a sale originally agreed was called in question on Mary’s accession,
and had to be negotiated afresh.
The most startling objections came from the parishioners of St. Helen, Stoncgate. The
various agreements of sale by the corporation in 1550-52 do not suggest a safe transaction,
and as soon as Mary became queen an act of parliament was secured empowering the
parishioners to rebuild, for the church had already been partly demolished. The rebuilding
naturally took some time, and was still in progress in 1558, but there was no further threat
to the church when Mary died that autumn, and it has outlasted some of its neighbours
to remain today one of the few functioning parish churches left within the walls. Indeed,
the parishioners were not content simply with the right to rebuild. Their church bells had
been transferred to St. Sampson’s, with which they had been temporarily united, and they
sued the parishioners of that church for their recovery before royal commissioners in York
18 Ibid. pp. 4, 17, 27; York City Archives, B20, ff. 89V, 90; 04, 1554-5 book, p. 98. On the purchase price of St.
Helen-on-the-Walls, see Appendix I.
92
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Minster, abandoning the suit only when the corporation threatened to defend the men of
St. Sampson’s.19
Ill
A generation passed after the draft scheme of 1549, and still it remained unratified.
Effectively, it was a fait accompli, apart from the restoration of St. Helen, Stonegate. Queen
Elizabeth was content to leave matters as they were, apart from resuming in 1573 the
sites of three of the dissolved churches (St. Andrew, St. Edward and St. Helen, Fishergate,)
and at some date unrecorded a fourth (St. Mary Layerthorpe). The last she sold to one of the
corporation, who immediately found that it was not hers to sell. Apparently the queen was
claiming those sites as ‘concealed lands’, that is, lands which had been granted to the crown
at the Henrician and Edwardian dissolutions, but had been concealed from its officers.
But the problems which had brought about the act of 1547 had not disappeared; there
were still too many churches to be adequately maintained. The corporation had spared
St. Cuthbert’s at the request of Sir Martin Bowes, but in 1561 they told him that it was still
critically poor even though another living (actually two others) had been united with it.
Moreover, the adjacent parish of All Saints, Peaseholme, was also in great decay by 1568,
even though it also had been enriched by the accession of two dissolved livings. Further-
more, not all of the parishes united in 1549 had accepted the situation. The parishioners of
St. Peter-the-Little were reluctant to join those of All Saints, Pavement, while those of
St. Wilfrid refused to accept union with St. Michael-le-Belfrey. These acts of disobedience -
and perhaps others not recorded - together with a worsening situation in some surviving
parishes, seem to have led the corporation to press for an amended and ratified scheme as a
solution to both difficulties.
On 2 March 1580 the corporation agreed that the mayor, when he next entertained the
visiting assize judges, should ‘taike ther advise touchinge the lait unytinge of churches’.20
On 22 March they ordered all citizens to resort ‘to ther churches whereunto they be united’,
and in the following year, presumably because dissatisfaction still continued, the parish of
St. Wilfrid was ordered to be united to St. Helen, Stonegate, instead of to St. Michael-le-
Belfrey.21 Even now, difficulties were not at an end, to judge from cryptic resolutions
among the corporation minutes: on 13 July 1583 the mayor and aldermen went to
Bishop thorpe in a body to consult the archbishop ‘towching uniting of Churches’, and on
5 November that year they agreed that the recorder should consult Dr Lougher about the
unions, ‘and that he shall shewe unto him the opinions of the doctors’.22 This was perhaps
a document of 22 March 1581, ‘The opinyon of doctours in the Arches for unityng of
Churches’, which was copied into the city archives. The Court of Arches had evidently
been consulted because the York act of unions had made no provision for the payments of
synodals and procurations by the united parishes. The doctors gave it as their opinion that
provision could be made ‘in the instrument of the unyon’ that the new joint parishes should
pay in such taxes the total sums of the parishes before union; ‘All other thynges as we
thinke, are sufficyentlye provided by the said Acte of Parliament it self’.23 Evidently,
however, difficulties were still being raised in 1583 about the legal basis of any final
instrument of union.
At last, whatever difficulties remained were smoothed over by the lawyers; and on
27 January 1586, at Bishopthorpe, the archbishop, mayor, recorder and six aldermen -
19 York Civ. Rec. V, p. 147.
20 Ibid, VIII, p. 27.
21 Ibid. p. 30; York City Archives, B28, ff. 13V, 14V.
22 York City Archives, B28, fF. 104V, 115V.
23 York City Archives, E30, f. i45r.
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK, I547-I586
93
J.P.’s finally ratified the unions of parishes. The instrument of union, which is printed for
the first time as Appendix II, ratified the various unions which had already effectively taken
place, and added one more.24 Two of the churches condemned in 1549 had been allocated
to the support of All Saints, Peaseholme, but this church was now in dire straits itself,
although it undoubtedly continued in use until 1584 and presumably until 1586. The
final agreement of 1586 took advantage of the opportunity to remedy this unsatisfactory
situation; the other two parishes were united with St. Saviour instead, while All Saints
was closed and united with St. Cuthbert. The agreement thus brought to an end the long
period of uncertainty and legal ambiguity. The closure of fourteen churches in Edward s
reign was retrospectively ratified, and a fifteenth closure was now added; two more
churches, St. George and St. Maurice, were united to others but not closed; and the earlier
attempt to close and demolish St. Helen, Stonegate, so vigorously opposed, was quietly
forgotten. . . ,
With the unions of 1586, so long delayed, the story is almost at an end. Hie city s
parochial structure had been stable from the late fourteenth century, after a bout of five
closures, until 1548; now the new and more drastic purge was complete. The forty parish
churches of Henry VII’s reign had become twenty-three, with two more surviving non-
parochially. The siege of the city in 1644, which devastated the suburbs, pushed the process
a little further, for of the damaged suburban churches two - St. George and St. Nicholas -
were beyond repair; but St. George s had already been formally united to St. Denys in
1586, and so the number of parishes was reduced by only one. It looked for a short time as
though the victorious Parliamentarians might take the process further. In 1650 Common-
wealth Commissioners proposed a reduction from twenty-five parishes (they must have
been including St. George and St. Nicholas) to eight, and demolition of the other
seventeen churches.25 Nothing came of it, however, and the city s parochial system
remained unchanged from 1644 to the early nineteenth century.
IV
In conclusion, it is worth briefly placing the York union in a wider context, for the
problem of too many churches was not peculiar to one city. The early middle ages had seen
a rapid increase m the numbers of urban churches, partly as population and wealth
accumulated, but partly perhaps for reasons unconnected with such obvious trends: the
fluidity of the parochial structure, the multiple use of churches when there were few
secular public buildings, and the desire of private owners, whether gilds or private lords, to
have places of worship for their own men. Whatever the reasons, some of the largest cities
had acquired huge totals by about the end of the thirteenth century: over a hundred in
London, more than fifty each in Norwich and Winchester, over forty in York and Lincoln
It gradually became apparent that the numbers were greatly in excess of need, especially
when epidemics reduced urban populations in the fourteenth century, and in town after
town churches either fell out of use - as at Winchester - or survived only in poverty and
neglect, as at York. Only in London and Norwich did the citizens manage to maintain their
heritage intact.
24 York City Archives, G7; Borthwick Institute, RI31, f. 74- The instrument also lists a union of St. Nicholas
Micklegate to Holy Trinity, Micklegate, not included in the total here, for Dr E. A Gee has shown that St.
Nicholas was simply an alternative dedication for Holy Trinity priory nave, used parochially both before and
after the dissolution. The tabulated summary of the instrument in Victoria Co. History, York, p. 367, is correct,
except that it conflates two separate unions (All Saints and St. Helen Fishergate to St. Lawrence, St. Edward to
St Nicholas). It is also notable that in the original, printed as Appendix II, St. Helen-on-the-Walls is moved from
the list of churches united to St. Saviour, to those united to St. Cuthbert - the correction of a scribal error, or a
last-minute change of plan?
25 C. Cross, ‘Achieving the Millennium: the Church in York during the Commonwealth’, in Studies in Church
History IV, Cuming, G. J. (Ed.) (1967). P- 1 39-
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THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
By Henry VIII’s reign, pressure was building up for a more general attack on the whole
problem. It would probably have happened whether or not there was a Reformation, but
no doubt the suppression of the religious houses, and the projected suppressions of gilds,
chantries, and hospitals, gave the idea a fillip. It is interesting that one of the rumours circu-
lating in the North when the Pilgrimage of Grace broke out in 1536 was that the crown
intended to suppress many parish churches, such as all those within five miles of another.26
This is often regarded by historians hostile to the Pilgrimage as another example of the
rebels’ naive credulity; but several of the rumours they believed were inspired by fact,
however distorted the facts had become in the telling. The rumour, for instance, that the
king intended to tax all christenings, weddings and burials was probably caused by the
perfectly correct idea that Cromwell was planning to make the registration of these events
compulsory. It would not be at all surprising if, in the midst of his other ecclesiastical
reforms as vice-gerent, he intended to rationalize the parochial structure.
If he did think in these terms, however, he had no time to carry out his intentions, and
what emerged after his death was a much tamer measure, an enabling act rather than a
general requirement. The statute of 1545, already mentioned, enacted that any two
churches less than a mile apart, of which one was not worth more than £6 a year, could
be united by the assent of the ordinary, the incumbents, and all with an interest in their
patronage. Any such unions already made were retrospectively confirmed, a provision
which presumably helped towns like Winchester and Wallingford where such unions had
already occurred. An important proviso in the act was that no such unions could be made
in cities or corporate towns without the consent of their corporations.
It is not known precisely what effect the act had. It was of course possible for unions to
occur under it without further recourse to parliament, and few Tudor ecclesiastical archives
are yet printed, so that a number of unions may remain undetected. But one may suspect
that not much advantage was taken of the act, for its chief need was in towns of multiple
parishes, and it seems that these were precisely the communities which felt that the general
statute did not give them enough protection. Certainly, as we have seen, York secured its
own act in 1547, and in 1549 Lincoln too secured a local act of union, similarly worded to
York’s and obviously modelled on it. At Lincoln, unlike York, the corporation had already
demolished ten churches, and others followed: when the formal award was made by the
bishop, mayor and two J. P.’s in 1553, the 24 parishes of the early sixteenth century were
reduced to nine.27 The Lincoln act was immediately followed by others for Stamford,
Chipping Ongar and Rochester,28 but this seems to constitute the full number of such acts
in the Tudor period; and even this small number was whittled away, for in 1553 Mary’s
first parliament repealed the union of St. Helen’s at York, and in 1554 that of Chipping
Ongar.29
Yet despite the small number of successful local acts, corporations much have felt them
to be a desirable legal safeguard. A considerable number of churches seem to have become
disused at Winchester in the later middle ages without any special authority being sought,
but in 1563 a parliamentary bill was promoted by the bishop for the union of churches
there, though it did not get beyond a second reading in the House of Lords, either through
opposition or through pressure of other business.30 A revealing letter from the bishop to
Cecil shows that he saw a link between the numerous and underpaid livings, and religious
conservatism. His scheme for unions had the backing of the corporation, but he admitted
26 e.g. Letters and Papers , Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII XII, (1), pp. 33-9, 173, 182.
27 Sir Francis Hill, Tudor and Stuart Lincoln (1956), pp. 20-1, 56-8. The act is not printed in Statutes of the Realm.
28 Statutes of the Realm, IV, p. ix. The Stamford act was used to amalgamate eleven parishes into six: Rogers A. (Ed.),
The Making of Stamford , (1965), pp. 51, 59.
29 Statutes of the Realm, IV, pp. 216-7, 234-5.
30 Journals of the House of Lords I, pp. 597-8.
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK, I547-I586
95
that ‘the common sort be against it’, as perhaps they were at York.31 At Exeter, with its
19 parish churches, reorganisation was prevented for a different reason. The corporation
promoted parliamentary bills for parish unions in 1581 and 1601, but the bishop - who
was usually on bad terms with them - thwarted the first attempt and probably also the
second.32
In contrast to the well-known aspects of Tudor ecclesiastical reorganization - the
suppressions of various religious institutions, the foundation of new bishoprics, the forced
exchanges of church property, the creation of new courts, and so on - the whole subject
of parochial reorganization has been much neglected. To chart its progress in full would
require much more research in national and local archives, and would go far beyond the
scope of this paper. It is hoped, nevertheless, that sufficient has been said to place the York
union in its national context, as a single example (if more drastic and more complicated
than most) of widespread moves towards greater rationalization of resources, which if
carried further, might have greatly strengthened the Church. But it was not to be: as with
the opposite movement towards more parishes in the incipient industrial areas, there were
too many vested interests stacked against large-scale measures in either direction, and a
thorough overhaul of parochial geography had to wait until the nineteenth century.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the following for kindly supplying information and advice: Mr C. B. L. Barr, Miss A. B.
Batchelor, Dr E. A. Gee, Mr J. H. Harvey, Dr P. Tyler and the staffs of the three York archive offices. Mr Harvey
kindly allowed me to adapt his map of parish boundaries, taken from the 1852 Ordnance Survey plans of the city.
ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations
Borth. I.H.R.
Drake
Hargrove
P.R.O.
Raine
S.R.
V.C.H.Y.
V.E.
Y.A.J.
Y.C.A.
Y.C.R.
used in the following notes are these:
Borthwick Institute of Historical Research.
Drake F., Eboracum: or the History and Antiquities oj the City of York (1736).
Hargrove W., History and Description of the Ancient City of York (2 vols. 1818).
Public Record Office.
Raine, A., Mediaeval York: a Topographical Survey based on Original Sources (195 5) .
Statutes of the Realm (n vols., 1810-24).
The Victoria History of the Counties of England: the City of York, Tillott, P. M. (Ed.) (1961).
Valor Ecclesiasticus, Caley, J., (Ed.), (6 vols., 1810-34).
The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal.
York Corporation Archives, York Public Library.
York Civic Records, Raine, A., (Ed.), (Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series, 8
Y.C.S.
Y.D.C.A.
Y.P.R.S.
vols., 1939-53)-
The Certificates of the Commissioners appointed to survey the Chantries, Guilds, Hospitals, etc., in
the County of York, Page, W. (Ed.) (Surtees Society, 2 vols., 1894-5).
York Dean and Chapter Archives.
Publications of the Yorkshire Parish Register Society.
APPENDIX I
Histories of individu/ l sites
(a) Churches probably closed at the Dissolution
1. ALL SAINTS , FISHERGATE. A cell of Whitby Abbey, but probably also parochial,
and appeared in tax lists 1327-1524 ( V.C.H.Y . 368; Y.C.A. B9, f. 66v; Y.A.J. IV, 182-3).
The cell was probably evacuated by Whitby before 1536 (Knowles, D. and Hadcock, R. N.
Medieval Religious Houses: England & Wales 2nd edn. 1971, 82), and nothing is known of
how the church was served thereafter.
Benefice: proposed 1549 to unite it with St. Denys (Y.C.R. V, 5), but in 1586 it was united instead with St.
Lawrence (Y.C.A. G7).
Site: on 17 June 1549 the corporation agreed to sell it to Alderman Robert Paycok for £ 2 155 (Y.C.R. V, 17).
What may have been its foundations were found in 1724 (Raine, 300).
31 Information kindly supplied by Miss A. B. Batchelor from P.R.O., S.P. 12/21(7).
32 MacCaffrey, W. T., Exeter 1540-1640: the growth of an English county town (1958), pp. 196-7.
96
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
2. ST. CLEMENT. The church of St. Clement’s priory, used parochially. This use seems
to have ceased after the priory’s suppression, 1536 ( V.C.H.Y . 377).
Benefice: for tax purposes was linked with St. Mary Bishophill Senior from the fourteenth to the sixteenth
centuries (ibid.), and it was a union with this church that was proposed 1549 ( Y.C.R . V, 5) and ratified 1586 (Y.C.A
g7).
Site: on 27 July 1548 the corporation agreed to sell it (Y.C.R. IV, 179), but no sale is recorded. It is marked on
James Archer’s plan ofc.1673 like other churches still in use. Ruins still existed in 1736 (Drake, 248-9) and 1818
(Hargrove, II, 500), but were they of the church or of the conventual buildings?
(b) Churches permanently closed c. 1548
3. ST. ANDREW. Apparently still a functioning church on 22 February 1548, when
Elizabeth Towynson asked for burial in her parish churchyard of St. Andrew, with mass,
dirge, and ringing of bells; the incumbent, Richard Barwike, headed the list of witnesses
(Y.D.C.A. T2(5)b, ff.i9v, 20r).
Benefice: proposed 1549 to unite it with No. 19 (Y.C.R. V, 5), but in 1586 was instead united with St.
Saviour (Y.C.A. G7).
Site: one of 3 redundant churchyards leased out by the corporation until 1573, when they ceased to collect the
rent because the Queen, ‘havyng bettar right to the same’, sold them to William Wentworth (Y.C.R. VII, 82). On
29 July 1581 the church and other properties were sold for £11$ by Edward and Margaret Carleton of Beeford to
Thomas and Katherine Bamburghe of Howsham (Y.C.A. E23, f. ior), but E.C. must have recovered the church,
for c.1589 he pledged it to Thomas Sands of London, leather seller, as security for a loan (P.R.O. C2/Eliz/C2i/35).
The fabric still survives, and after varied secular usage has been since c.1924 a Gospel Hall of the open Plymouth
Brethren (V.C.H.Y. 377, 418).
4. ST. EDWARD. Had probably decayed well before 1547, and nothing is recorded of
it after 1500 except the institution of the Prior of Healaugh as rector 1504 ( V.C.H.Y . 380)
and a mention of Brian Bee as rector 1526 (Borth. I.H.R., ‘Tudor Crockford’).
Benefce: united 1586 with St. Nicholas (Y.C.A. G7).
Site: the corporation granted a lease for life to Nicholas Radclyf from 2 February 1549 for 5s a year (Y.C.R. V, 15).
It continued to be leased out until 1573, when the Queen resumed it, together with Nos. 3 and 8, and sold them to
William Wentworth (Y.C.R. VII, 82). However, Alderman William Beckwith, who was leasing it for 55 a year
until 1573 (Y.C.A. C93/1), died seised of it in 1586, when it was described as recently in the occupation of Leonard
Belt (P.R.O. C142/215/257; Y.C.A. E26, f. 6or). About 1612 the churchyard was in the tenure of Alderman Henry
Hall (Y.C.A. E27, f. I47r).
5. ST. GILES. Nothing is recorded of it in the early sixteenth century.
Benefce: proposed 1549 to unite it with St. Maurice (Y.C.R. V, 5), but in 1586 it was united with St. Olave
(Y.C.A. G7).
Site: unrecorded ownership until 1605, when David Bell was paid by the corporation for allowing plague burials
there (Raine, 270). About 1612 it was owned by Robert Blackaller (Davies, R., Walks through the City of York,
1880, 104) and 1630 by George Blackaller (V.C.H.Y. 381).
6. ST. GREGORY. Not disused before the unions. Richard Dixson occurs as rector
1 5 3 5 (V.E. V, 24) and Richard Amplefurthe 1547 (Borth. I.H.R., ‘Tudor Crockford’).
Testamentary burials regularly occur until 1547 (Borth. I.H.R., probate reg. XI, ff. 178,
292, 61 1 ; XIII, f. 342).
Benefice: a union with St. Martin Micklegate, with which it had often been jointly taxed since the fourteenth
century, was proposed 1549 (Y.C.R. V, 5) and ratified 1586 (Y.C.A. G7).
Site: on 11 January 1549 the corporation agreed to sell the ‘churche ground and churche yerde’ to Alderman
John Beane for Cl (Y.C.R. V, 4).
7. ST. HEEEN-ON-THE- WALLS. A poor living, being served in 1548 by a chantry
priest from St. Saviour’s (Y.C.S. 472). The church must have been in use on 24 April 1549,
when James Clarke asked for burial in the church or churchyard and left 1 6d to the high
altar for forgotten tithes (Y.D.C.A. L2(5)b, f. 28r). It may just possibly have been kept in
use longer still, as on 4 April 1551 an inventory was taken of the goods of Robert Agrig,
late curate (Borth. I.H.R., original probate documents).
Benefice: its union with St. Cuthbert was proposed 1549 (Y.C.R. V, 5) and ratified 1586 (Y.C.A. G7); but see
n. 24 above.
Site: on 2 January 1550 the corporation agreed to sell the church, churchyard and parsonage to Mayor George
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK, I547-I586
97
Gayle (Y.C.A. B19, f. 95V: Y.C.R. V, 27, mistranscribes ‘heyres’ as ‘Brethern’, thus leading V.C.H.Y. 382, into
thinking that the church was sold to the corporation. Altogether, Rame has garbled and abridged the entry: Gayle
was not sold the church for 105, but was given it in part payment of a sum ot £308 6s 8d which he had spent on
civic business.) Some demolition or alteration may have occurred at once, for Camden was reliably informed ot a
lamp found burning in a York chapel vault ‘at the suppression of Monasteries’ (Camden, W . Britannia, Gibson
E (Ed) 1693 col 719), and tradition in 1736 identified the chapel with St. Helen’s (Drake, 44), Parts ot the church
walls still stood in i575 and 1580 (Y.C.A. E31, pt. 1, f. ior; pt. 2, p. 76). Its foundations and graveyard were
excavated in 1973 immediately south-east of the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, not to the north-west as shown by Drake,
Skaife and the O.S. plan of 1852 and as implied in some documents.
8 ST HELEN FISHERGATE. Nothing is recorded of it in the early sixteenth century.
'Benefice: in 1549 it’ was proposed to unite it with St. Denys (Y.C.R. V, 5), but in 1586 it was united with
St. Lawrence (Y.C.A. G7). . T * ■» * , 11
Site • one of 3 redundant churchyards (see Nos. 3, 4) leased out by the corporation until 1 573- In 1 569 they intended
to sell the site to Alderman William Coupland (Y.C.R. VI, 73), but the plan fell through, and m i 573 William s son
Lancelot was renting it from them for i6d a year (Y.C.A. C93/1). In that year the queen resumed the three sites and
sold them to William Wentworth (Y.C.R. VII, 82).
9. ST. JOHN-DEL-PYKE. Testamentary burials occur until 1536 and 1537 (Y.D.C.A.
L2(5)a, f. 177), and rectors are recorded in 1535 (V.E. V, 21), 1536 (Y.D.C..A L2(5)a,
f. i77v) and 1540 (Borth. I.H.R., ‘York Fasti’). The parish was still a separate unit on
11 January 1549 (Y.C.R. V, 4). , , 0 . /v _ A ~ N
Benefice • union with Holy Trinity Goodramgate was proposed 1549 (Y.C.R. V, p. 5) and ratified 1586 (Y.C.A. G7).
But effectively they were united by 1560-1 at latest, as from that year the Pyke parishioners contributed to Holy
Trinity’s parochial charges (Borth. I.H.R., R. XII, Y/HTG 12). „ ,,
Site - from 1549 the corporation repeatedly offered to sell the church to Archbishop Holgate (Y.C.R. V, ,17, :9.
27 54) On 2I January 1552, in return for £5 paid by Holgate, they sold it to Richard Goldthorpe and Richard
Yongar, to the use of Holgate (Y.C.A. B20. ff. 89, 90). The deed of sale shows that the church lay between the
school which H. had founded in 1546, and the Treasurer’s House (now Gray s Court) which he had bought 91 548.
But on 30 August 1553 the deed was redelivered to the corporation by the mayor (Y.C.R. _y, 91). had H. ost
possession at Mary’s accession? The parsonage house was later used by the incumbents of the united parishes
(V.C.H.Y., 384).
10. ST. JOHN BAPTIST HUNGATE. Perhaps disused before 1547; its ornaments had
been moved to St.John Micklegate by 1519, and the 1523 visitation found that there was no
parish priest or clerk, and that the parishioners were attending No. 3 (Y.D.C.A.,
L2(3)c, f. 163V; L2(3)d, f. I9v). . , j . , q
Benefice: it was proposed in 1549 to unite it with No. 19 (Y.C.R. V, 5), but in 1586 both were united with St.
L 10 January 1550, it was reported that the sale of this church and of No. 15 would realize ^43 1 V for the
corporation (Y.C.A. B19, f. 99r: misprinted in Y.C.R. V, 28). Nothing further is known of the ownership or the
fate of the fabric.
11. ST. MARY LAYERTHORPE. Tittle is recorded of it in the later middle ages
(V.C.H.Y. 394). A testamentary burial seems last to occur in 1510 (Y.D.C.A. L2(5)a, f. 94-) •
Benefice: union with No. 17 was proposed in 1549 (Y.C.R. V, 5) and ratified in 1586 (Y.C.A. G7).
Site: on 18 June 1576 the Dean and Chapter leased the former parsonage to Alderman Robert Criplyng tor 40
years at 5s p a • Criplyng, whose own land adjoined it, had bought it from the crown as concealed land, but it had
now been discovered that it was Minster property (Y.D.C.A. Wb, f. 286). Criplyng must also have acquired the
church site In November 1585 the churchwardens of No. 17 prosecuted him before the Eccles. Commission tor
detention of bells and other church goods (Borth I.H.R., H.C.A.B. 11, f. 37v), and in his will, dated 18 May i594,
he left his son George a churchyard adjoining his dwelling house (Borth. I.H.R., probate reg. XXVI, f. 205).
12. ST. PE TER-LE- WILLO WS. No testamentary burial occurs after 1530 (Borth.
I.H.R., probate reg. IX, f. 475), and the church was held in plurality with St. Margaret s
from 1533 (Borth. I.H.R., ‘Tudor Crockford’, sub George Cooke). But the 1593
depositions (below), if reliable, show the church was in use until c. 1549.
Benefice - its union with St. Margaret’s was proposed in 1549 (Y.C.R. V, 5) and ratified in 1586 (Y.C.A. G7). In a
crown inquiry into concealed lands, held at York i593, two witnesses deposed that the two churches had been united
about 44 years earlier; a third testified that ‘aboute forty yeres agoo The sayd Churche of St. Peter in the Willowes
was pulled downe, and then the parishioners . . . did goo to the perish Churche of St. Margrets to service ... . And
sayth that aboute eighte yeres agoo the perishe of St. Peter in the Wyllowes was unyted to the perish or St.
Margrets’ (P.R.O. E 134/3 5 an°I 36 Eliz./Mich. 15).
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THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Site: thf abovf depositions suggest demolition c.1553 if not c.1549. It may be significant that it was the church
ground and churchyard which were sold to Alderman John North for £1 on 11 January 1549 {Y.C.R. V 4) • he died
ac A'agust' 1 ^ 5 8 (ibid. 185). On 6 September 1571 Richard and Joan Bell of York released to Francis’' Wotherose
i Cy 1 611 rigbt^in the e^tirch yard, recently in the tenure of Alderman North and now in the tenure of
Miles Thomlynson (Y.C.A. E23, f. 37r). The church foundations were exposed in 1827 and 1945 (Raine, m-12).
13. ST. PETER-THE-LITTLE. There was still a rector in 1535 (V.E. V, 21), but in 1548
a chantry priest was serving the cure, ‘because the parsonage is so little worth no man will
talk yt’ (Y.C.S. II, 454).
Benefice: its union with All Saints Pavement was proposed in 1549 {Y.C.R. V, 5) and ratified in 1586 (Y.C.A. G7).
But neither group ot parishioners would accept the union, until finally the dispute came before the Eccles
Commission. On 4 December 1583 both parties submitted to the archbishop’s ruling (Raine, p. 167).
Stte- on 27 July 1548 the corporation proposed to sell the church for £40 {Y.C.R. IV, 179), but on 11 January
1549 they agreed to sell it to their town clerk, Miles Newton, for £1 6s 8d {ibid. V, 4). By his will, 10 June 1550,
Newton bequeathed to his second son Miles ‘the churche grounde, churche yard, and the walles of the late
dissolved churche callyd Peterlayne lyttill’ {North Country Wills, Clay, J.W. (Ed.), I, Surtees Soc. CXVI, 1908 209)
On 6 September 1555 the corporation told the younger Miles to put the church and churchyard to rights as they
stood desolate and were ‘used very noyfully {Y.C.R. V, 129). On 5 June 1576, when a new rector was instituted to
the united parishes, St. Peter s was called ‘modo diruta et demolita’ (Borth I.H.R. R.I.31, f. 3r). But the tower had
not yet gone. In 1567 the corporation leased to Richard Scawceby a little cottage ‘by hym lately begone to be erected
t^e S7Cple °* P^ter lYtle ^ate churche’ (Y.C.A. B24, f. 90), and in 1584 Alderman Hugh Graves of the parish
ol All Saints Pavement bequeathed a steeple adjoining his own house (Borth. I.H.R. probate register XXIV, f. 58).
14. ST. WILT RID. Testamentary burials in this church continued until 1546 (Borth.
I.H.R., probate reg. XIII, fF. 67, 221). The last rector, John Thompson, was inst. 16
September 1546 (Y.D.C.A. LI (8), 90).
Benefice: in 1549 it was proposed to unite it with St. Michael-le-Belfrey {Y.C.R. V, 5), but in 1581 the corporation
agreed instead that it should be united with No. 15 (Y.C.A. B28, ff. i3v, 14V). Significantly, it alone of the 17
parishes amalgamated is not mentioned in the instrument of union; and Drake (p. 337) says that it was finally united
with Bellrey only under the condition ‘that if ever the parishioners think fit to rebuild their church, the parish
should remain as before’. In 1587 the Eccles. Commission took steps to confirm the union, describing St. Wilfrid’s
as having been demolished ‘of long tyme’, and its parishioners as having attended Belfrey church ‘these manve veres’
(Y.D.C.A. Acc. 1966/2, 19, f. 74r; Y.P.R.S. I, 100). y X
Site: On 17 December 1548 the corporation agreed to sell the church and parsonage to Alderman John Bean and
his partners for £ 30 , but it they could not peaceably take and enjoy the same, they were to be given back the value
of the parsonage (Y.C.A. B19, f. 43 v). But on 11 January 1549 they agreed instead to sell the church ground and
churchyard to Richard Goldthorpe, gent. {Y.C.R. V, 4). The sale cannot have been completed, for in May 1554
the corporation resolved to sell the churchyard to Goldthorpe for £10 {ibid. 106, bis.). However, the chamberlains’
accounts show that he actually paid only £2 (on 16 June 1554) for outright purchase ‘under the Common Sealle’
(Y.C.A. C4, 1554-5 book, 98).
(c) Church temporarily closed c. 1548
15. ST. HELEN , STONEGATE. On 12 May 1549 it was proposed to unite the church
with St. Sampson s (Y.C.R. V, 5), but on 19 August, the corporation decided to ask the
archbishop that it might instead be united to another church in the same ward, either
St. Martin, Coney Street, or St. Michacl-le-Belfrey (thid., 18). On 10 January 1550 they
agreed that St. Helen s and St.John’s Hungate should be sold for a total of -£43. l5s ( ibid .,
28, which misprints the sum). On 18 February 1552 they agreed that ‘Master Lee’ could
buy the church and churchyard, provided that he built a dwelling house on the frontage
or else demolished the church walls and built new semely walls on the foundations
(ibid., 72; the original MS. does apparently read Lee ). This decision was confirmed on 29
August (ibid., 81). But on 26 October they agreed instead to grant it to Thomas Goodyere,
who agreed to demolish and rebuild within a year (ibid.). One of the acts passed by Mary I’s
first parliament in December 1553 was ‘for the reedifieng of the Parishe Churche of
Saynte Elens in Stanegate, within the Citie of Yorcke’. This rehearsed how the church
had been suppressed by authority of 1 Ed. VI c. 9, and how the suppression ‘hathe muche
defaced and deformed the city; therefore the parishioners were empowered ‘to repayre
reedyfie and builde ageync’ their church, and to have services held there (S.R. IV, 216-17).
The only known date for the rebuilding is a testamentary bequest of 6s &d ‘towardes build-
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK, I547-I586
99
inge of the steple’, 29 May 1558 (Borth. I.H.R. probate registers, XV, pt. 2, f. 29 ir).
In July 1556 the parishioners were attempting to recover two bells from the parishioners
of St. Sampson’s ( Y.C.R . V; 147), presumably they had been moved over in 1549.
The evidence of the present fabric is that a good deal of the stone must have been taken
down and later re-erected; in one case a capital has been replaced upside down. V.C.H.Y.
dates the body as fourteenth century and the west end as fifteenth (p. 383), but the west
end and turret, at least, may be wholly of the 1550’s rebuilding. Certainly the bell-turret’s
only York parallel is that of St. Michael-le-Belfrey (wholly rebuilt 1525-36), and it is quite
unlike any of the fifteenth-century towers.
(d) Churches threatened c. 1547-8 but not closed
16. ALL SAINTS, NORTH STREET. On 12 May 1549 it was decided that this church
and St.John, Micklegate, should be united (Y.C.R. V, 5), and it must have been the former
which was to be suppressed. For on 14 July 1553 the corporation resolved that before the
parish unions were ratified, they would ask Archbishop Holgate ‘for reformacon of
Allhalows Cherch in North street to stand still and to be left furth of the sayd Union’
(ibid. 90).
17. ST. CUTHBERT. On 8 March 1547 Sir Martin Bowes, a native of the parish though
by then an alderman of London, wrote to ask that this should not be one of the churches
suppressed, and on receiving his letter the corporation agreed at once (Y.C.R. IV,
173). On 17 September 1561 they wrote to tell Bowes that though they had spared the
church at his request, and united another parish to it, the living was still so poor that it was
‘ofte tymes destitute of a curate to serve there except of the Saboth day’ (Y.C.R. VI,
28). And on 4 January 1581 they agreed to contribute jCi p.a. for ten years towards
repairs of the church (Y.C.R. VIII 40).
18. ST. MARTIN, MICKLEGATE. In August 1548 this was described as ‘one of the
churches that was agreyd to be takyn downe and unytyd to an other churche’; con-
sequently the parishioners stripped the roof lead for their own use, but were ordered to
surrender it to the corporation and to tile the roof at their own expense (Y.C.R. IV, 179-80).
But the suppression must have been countermanded, as on 12 May 1549 it was agreed to
unite St. Gregory’s to this church (Y.C.R. V, 5).
(e) Church closed in 1586
19. ALL SAINTS, PEASEHOLME. This was one of the churches spared under the
scheme of 1549, which proposed to unite two others (St. Andrew and St. John Hungate)
with it (Y.C.R. V, 5). Institutions of incumbents were made in 1551 (twice), 1567 and
1573 (Y.D.C.A., LI(8), pt. 1, col. 522), and five testamentary burials in the church occurred
between 1557 and 1584; two of them (both in 1558) were of testators who left money for
its repair (Borth. I.H.R. , probate registers, XV, pt. 2, f. 48r; pt. 3, ff. 85, 129V; XXI,
f. 251V; XXIII, f. 24 5 v). But although the church remained in use, it fell into ‘extreme
ryune and decaie’ by 1568 (Raine, 88), and in 1575 and 1578 decay to the church fabric and
parsonage, the rector’s pluralism, and a lack of sermons were all reported (Borth. I.H.R.,
R.VI. A5, f. 5r; A. 6, f. I3v). No doubt it was this decay that was encouraging people to
lay filth and dung ‘within or aboute’ the church in 1576 (Y.C.A., E31, pt. 1, f. 27r).
Benefice: united with St. Cuthbert in 1586 (Y.C.A., G7).
Site: a series of corporation minutes reveals the fate of the fabric. On 14 May 1589, as much tile was to be removed
from it was was needed to repair St. Cuthbert’s, ‘and the rest of the tyle tymber and Stone to be taken downe
and kept for the use of the poore of this Cittye’ (Y.C.A., B.30, f. io8r). On 16 January 1590 Alderman Andrew Trew
reported he had got the archbishop’s consent to use stones from the church to repaid the highways at Castle Mills;
100
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
the corporation therefore decided Trew could take all the stone remaining, paying £ 2 to the poor; and they recorded
that St. Cuthbert’s had had as much tile and timber as it needed, and that more was still stockpiled (ibid. f. I54r).
After supplementary minutes on these matters (ibid. ff. I59r, 165V), they agreed on 5 June 1590 that spars from the
church could be used to repair the common folds of Walmgate and Monk Wards (ibid. f. 183V). But demolition
cannot have been total, for ‘some small remains of the [church] wall’ still stood in 1736 (Drake, 313). They had
disappeared by 1818 (Hargrove, II, 342).
(f) Churches united 1586, but not closed
20. ST. GEORGE. There is no evidence for decay in the mid-sixteenth century, and there
was no proposal to suppress the church in 1549. The benefice was united with St. Denys in
1586 (Y.C.A., G/7), and it is stated by V.C.H.Y. that after the union St. George’s was
allowed to become ruinous (p. 381), but this is a telescoping of the whole period 1586-1644.
After 1586 St. Georges, like St. Maurice’s, was a church formally united but
undoubtedly still in use. Gabriel Squire was instituted as vicar 17 October 1594, and held
the living until his death in 1612, though from 21 February 1603 he held it in plurality
with St. Denys (Y.D.C.A., LI(8), pt. 1, Cols. 462, 469, 478). In 1596 Richard Lofte willed
to be buried in ‘my parishe churche of St. Georgies’ (Borth. I.H.R., probate registers,
XXVI, f. 351), and no doubt there were also testamentary burials in the early seventeenth
century. It was still listed as one of York’s 25 functioning parish churches in 1639 (Bodley,
MS. Rawl. C. 886, p. 48), and presumably what brought its use to an end was the severe
damage it sustained in the siege of 1644 (Keep, H., ‘Monumenta Eboracensia’ [Trinity
College Cambridge MS. 0.4.33] I40)- The ruins, with roof timbers exposed, appear on
Francis Place’s general views of c. 1675. About 1700 the ruinous walls were described as
an ‘eyesore’ (Raine, 109), and they were still there in 1730 (Gent, T., History of York, p. 168)
and 1736 (Drake, 306), but the last remains were pulled down soon after 1800 (Hargrove,
II, 309).
21. ST. MAURICE. It was proposed in 1549 to retain this church, and to unite St. Giles’
with it ( Y.C.R . V, 5). In 1586, instead, it was itself united to Holy Trinity, Goodramgate
(Y.C.A., G/7), but it remained in use for services, and continued so, unlike St. George’s,
even after partial destruction in the siege of 1644 (Raine, p. 278). An incumbent in 1716
called himself ‘collated to both churches as one cure’ ( V.C.H.Y . 394). In 1874-8 the church
was rebuilt on a larger scale, and became the church in which the cure of the united parishes
was chiefly exercised (ibid. 394-5), but in 1967, having become redundant, it was
demolished.
Postscript Since this article was written an abstract has been published of Elizabeth I’s
letters patent of 3 September 1573 granting away the churchyards seized as concealed
lands ( Calendar of Patent Rolls 1572-1575 (1973), p- 40). She granted to Edward Forthe
and Henry Bett of Stepney, for a rent of 4 d, ‘all church yards in the city of York in the
tenure of the mayor and aldermen there escheated to the Crown because they were not
converted to the intention specified in stat. I Edw. VI’, as well as many other properties
in other areas. The notes on sites 3, 4 and 8 state that the queen sold them to William
Wentworth in 1573, but the letters patent, together with Y.C.R. VII, 82, imply that Forthe
and Bett bought the churchyards from the queen as a speculation, and immediately resold
them to Wentworth.
APPENDIX II
The Instrument of Union
[This text is printed from Y.C.A., G7, the original parchment deed, with nine damaged
seals appended. The signatures of the parties appear across the tags. Contractions are
expanded without indication. Passages given in square brackets are those inserted after the
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK, I547-I586
101
deed had been drawn up. The numbers given in brackets were added for reference in the
left hand margin of the document.]
EDWINUS PROVIDENTIA DIVINA EBORACENSIS ARCHIEPISCOPUS ANGLIE PRIMAS ET
metropolitanus, ac civitatis Eboracensis Ordinarius, Andreas Trewe dicte civitatis Maior, Willelmus Hyllyarde
eiusdem civitatis Recordator, et Christoferus Herberte, Robertas Maskewe, Thomas Harrison, Hugo Graves,
Robertus Askwith, et Willelmus Robinson civitatis predicte aldermanm domine nostre Elizabeth dei gratia Ang ,
francL et Hibernie regine fidei defensoris &c. ad pacem in eadem civitate, et comitatu eiusdem conservandam
Tustitiarii UNIVERSIS, ET singulis Christi fidehbus, ad quos hoc presens scriptum pervenerit, salutem in domi
sempiternam. NOVERITIS quod nec prefati Archiepiscopus, Maior, Recordator, et aldermanm Justitiary pacis
prechcti [vicesimo septimo] die Januarij anno domini secundum computacionem ecclesie Anglicane millesimo
quingentesimo octogesimo quinto, regmque serenissime dicte domine nostre regine vicesimo octavo mxta formam
mnorem, et effectum emusdam actus! sive statuti in parliamento preclare memorie donum Edwardi sex 1 nuper
regis Anglie, apud Westmonasterium anno regm sui prnno pro Umone, et annexione quarundam ecclesiarum
parochialium in dicta civitate Eboracense, et suburbijs eiusdem editi, et provisi, et authontate nobis in eodem
ECCLEsFaS PAROCHIALES, et parochias oinnes, et singulas infrascriptas in civitate predicta, et suburbijs eiusdem
exisTentes, una cum cemiterijs, mansis aedifieijs, decimis, oblatiombus, alijsque iuribus et pertinentijs omnibus et
singulis, que ad eas, et earum quamlibet olim quouismodo spectarunt, et pertinuerunt, adhuc spectant, et pertin
vefspectare, aut pertinere, debuerunt, aut debent, modo, et forma subsequentibus respective coummus, comungimus,
^i]C°lNPRIMIS1IvideHcet ecclesie Pparochiali sancte Tnnitatis in Goodromgate et parochie eiusdem, ecclesias
parochiales sancti Mauritij extra Monkbarre in suburbijs eiusdem civitatis, et sancti Johanms delpike prope ecclesiam
cathedralem, et metropolitan! beati Petri Eboracensis, et parochias earundem, cum suis separatis membris, mnbus,
et pertinentijs huiusmodi universis (preter omnes, et singulas alias domus mansionales, cum suis membns, lurib s
et pertinentijs quibuscunque infra septum, seu clausum cemiteriale dicte ecclesie cathedralis et metropolit ce
constitutas quas et que omnia, et singula, in eisdem statu, et condicione, quoad mra parochialia quecunqu ,
permanere' volumus, in quibus ante dictum statutum conditum extiterunt), modo, et forma supradictis adummus,
[2ianSde”e 1 parochiali sancti Cutberti infra Laithrop posterne, et parochie eiusdem, ecclesias parochiales [sanctae
Helenae super muros in Aldwarke,] beate Marie in Laithrop in suburbijs dicte civitatis, et Omnium sanctorum in
Peasholme, et parochias earundem cum suis respective membns, iuribus, et pertinentijs huiusmodi universis,
[3] Ecclesie parochiali, et parochie sancti Salvatoris in marisco, ecclesias parochiales sancti Johanms in Hungate
sancti Andree in kermangeregate, alias saint Andrewegate, [several words erased here] et parochias respective
earundem, cum suis membris, iuribus, et pertinentijs huiusmodi vmversis, consimihter
[41 Ecclesie parochiali, et parochie sancti Diomsij in Walmegate, ecclesiam parochialem sancti Georgij infra
gate barre, et parochiam euisdem, cum suis membris, iuribus, et pertinentns huismodi universis, consimilite
adununus^t ^ parochie sancte Margarete in Walmegate, ecclesiam parochialem sancti Petri in lez
Willowes, et parochiam eiusdem, cum membris, iuribus, et pertinentijs suis huiusmodi universis consimihter
[bl^Sclesk p^rochiX et parochie sancti Laurentij in suburbijs extra Walmegate barre, ecclesias parochiales sancte
Helene in fishergate in suburbijs dicte civitatis, et Omnium Sanctorum ibidem, et parochias earundem, cum suis
membris, iuribus, et pertinentijs huiusmodi universis consimihter adunimus, et annectimus.
[7] Ecclesie parochiali, et parochie sancti Nicholai extra dictam barram in suburbijs dicte civitatis ecclesiam
parochialem sancti Edwardi ibidem, et parochiam eiusdem, cum suis membris, iuribus, et pertinentijs huiusmodi
universis consimihter adunimus, et annectimus: . , • ,
[81 Ecclesie parochiali, et parochie Omnium sanctorum super pavimento, ecclesiam parochialem sancti Petri
parvi, et parochiam eiusdem cum suis membris, iuribus, et pertinentijs huiusmodi consimihter adunimus, et
[o]ne<Ecclesie parochiali, et parochie beate Marie in Oldbushophill, ecclesiam parochialem sancti Clementis extra
Skeldergate posterne in suburbijs dicte civitatis, et parochiam eiusdem cum suis membris, iuribus, et per meneijs
huiusmodi universis, consimihter adunimus, et annectimus:
[10] Ecclesie parochiali, et parochie sancte Tnnitatis in Micklegate, ecclesiam parochialem sancti Nicholai ibidem,
et parochiam eiusdem, cum omnibus, et singulis membris, iuribus, et pertinentijs huiusmodi universis, consimihter
GiT1 Ecclesie^arochiali, et parochie sancti Martini ibidem, ecclesiam parochialem sancti Gregory ibidem, cum
suis membris, iuribus, et pertinentijs huiusmodi universis, consimihter adunimus, et annectimus. .
[12] Ecclesie denique parochiali, et parochie sancti Olavi extra Bowthome barre in suburbijs dicte cm a is,
ecclesiam parochiale sancti Egidij in Gelygate ibidem una cum membris, iuribus, et pertinentijs huiusmodi
universis consimihter adunimus, et annectimus per presentes. . .
IUS vero PATRONATUS, et presentationis, ad omnes, et singulas ecclesias huiusmodi parochiales respective
(ut premittitur) counitas, et connexas, separatis patronis earundem legitimis, heredibus et successoribus suis,
secundum quantitatem prioris sui lunspatronatus, sic assortimur, pariter et assignamus, ut suis qmque vicibus ad
easdem respective, quando, et quoties vacaverint, presentare valeant. Ac, ut debitus, in vicissitudine presentandi
inter huiusmodi compatronos, imposterum ordo conservetur, ommsque dubitatioms, et contentioms materia
(quoad fieri poterit) preamputetur VOLUMUS, et ordinamus per presentes, quod omnium, et singu lorum
dubiorum, et defectium quorumcumque hac in unione quandecunque emergentium, mterpretatio, declaratio
102
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
mmmmmrnm
PROVISO imposterum prelerantur, et suis quique propnjs vicibus prius, vel posterius perfruantur
“ ^mPer' quod mcumbentes dictarum ecclesiarum sic respective counitarum doming nostre re Jne preditte
consueta consimiliter soluere teneatur. IN CUIUS RFT TFSTIMOMtt tju . , ■ . P seu
^*aa«sSSSSS?
nnH n0biS I^°tanjS P^bllcls mfranominatis haec verba (Sanctae Helenae super muros in Aldwarke) inter
v^^
—si - rs — —
WiUelmus : ffothergill Notarius publicus Henricus Proctor notarius publicus]
[Signed across seal tags: E. Ebor
Willm Hyldyarde xpofer harbert
Tho Harrison Hugh graves
Wm. Robynson]
Andrew trew maior
Robert maskew
Robt asquith
103
THE COUNTRY SQUIREARCHY
AND THE FIGHT FOR PLACE IN THE EARLY
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY1
By Peter Roebuck
Summary From 1710 to 1712 Richard Beaumont of Lascelles Hall tried unsuccessfully to obtain a salaried post in
the civil service through the influence of friends, particularly Sir Arthur Kaye. His correspondence illustrates the
struggle of members of the squirearchy to supplement their incomes by office holding.
Although recent work has greatly elucidated the pattern of political developments
during the reign of Queen Anne,2 much of the political history of the period remains untold.
In particular we lack analyses of developments at the provincial and county levels; the
‘social base of Parliament . . . has been constantly ignored’.3 Lack of evidence will no doubt
prevent much of this history from being written. As Professor Plumb has pointed out,
there is no comprehensive political correspondence similar to that of the Duke of New-
castle for the later period.4 Much of this and other types of evidence must be forever lost.
Nevertheless, the private papers of many families engaged in politics at this time have been
made available to the historian and this process continues. Numerous repositories hold
material akin to the fragmented, but nonetheless revealing, correspondence with which
this paper is concerned.5 Moreover, as in this case, such material often forms merely a small
part of a large and varied collection, much of the rest of which is indispensable to the task
of placing documents of particular interest in correct historical perspective. Dating from
December 1710 to January 1712, these letters describe the efforts of Richard Beaumont,6
a struggling member of the Yorkshire squirearchy, to obtain a salaried post in the govern-
ment service. Most of them were written to Beaumont by Sir Arthur Kaye,7 his friend and
neighbour, the newly elected Tory M.P. for the county of Yorkshire. The elections of
1710 produced a situation in which Country-Tory M.P.s such as Kaye expected to wallow
in patronage, as they had always accused the Whigs of doing. Their expectations, however,
were not fulfilled, mainly because of Harley’s insistence on a national government,8 and
also, perhaps, because the revenue departments, the major growth area in the civil service,
1 I wish to thank Professor J. P. Kenyon and Dr. H. A. Lloyd for valuable comments on an earlier draft of this
paper. I alone am responsible for its failings.
2 The major contributions have been: Plumb, J. H., The Growth of Political Stability in England 1675-1725 (1967);
Holmes, G., British Politics in the Age of Anne (1967); Speck, W. A., Tory and Whig. The Struggle in the
Constituencies 1701-15. (1970).
3 Plumb, J. H., ‘The Growth of the Electorate in England from 1600 to 1715’, Past and Present 45 (1969), p. 91.
4 Plumb, J. H., Growth of Political Stability in England 1675-1725, p. 96.
5 The correspondence forms part of the Whitley-Beaumont Collection in the Central Library, Huddersfield. I
am grateful to the Librarian, Mr. R. K. Aldridge, and his staff for assisting me in my work there. References
below to MSS in the Collection begin with the letters: DD/WB.
6 1670-1723, of Lascelles Hall, near Huddersfield; son of Richard Beaumont of the same, and uncle of Richard
Beaumont (1677-1704) of nearby Whitley Hall. The Beaumonts of Whitley were the senior branch of the
family, the estates having been separated on the death of Sir Thomas Beaumont in 1668. Pedigrees of the County
Families of Yorkshire, Foster, J. (Ed.), (1874), i.
7 1660-1726, third baronet of Woodsome Hall, near Huddersfield and son and heir of Sir John Kaye, the second
baronet, of the same. Sir Arthur had unsuccessfully contested the county election of 1708. The Complete Baronetage
1611-1800, C[ockayne], G. E. (Ed.), (1900-9), ii, p. 157; The Parliamentary Representation of the County of York,
1258-1832, Gooder, A. (Ed.), Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series, xcvi (1938), ii, p. 103.
8 Harley ‘had always seen his future in mixed ministries’. Plumb, J .H., Growth of Political Stability in England,
1675-1725, p. 157. This point is fully developed in two recent works: Hamilton, E., The Backstairs Dragon.
A Life of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford (1969) and Mclnnes, A., Robert Harley, Puritan Politician (1970).
104
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
began to resist changes dictated by considerations of political patronage.9 For Country-
Tones, therefore, the expectancy which accompanied electoral success was soon followed
by a growing bitterness. The correspondence reveals this, as well as the nature of the fight
for place which ensued. It also throws light on the developing attitude of a not untypical
Tory backbencher to national politics in general, and to certain leading politicians in
particular.
Despite inheriting an estate at Lascelles Hall, near Huddersfield, from his father in 1705,
within a few years Richard Beaumont was desperately in need of additional income. This
need stemmed from his involvement in a long and costly legal dispute, which by 1710
was definitely proceeding in his disfavour.10 Whether or for how long Beaumont had
been seeking a post in the civil service before then is not known. However, following the
general election in the autumn of that year, his chances of securing such employment
seemed to be greatly improved. A Parliament which had been dominated by the Whigs
was succeeded by one in which the Tories had a majority of around three to one. Both
members elected to represent the county of Yorkshire were Tories, Lord Downe, the
senior member, having been an M.P. since 1690. 11 There is no evidence of Beaumont’s
participation in the election, but before the two members went up to Westminster they
promised to try to secure a post in the civil service for their supporter. They planned to
approach Robert Price on Beaumont s behalf. Price,12 a distinguished V^elsh lawyer and
a consistent Tory, had been appointed a Baron of the Exchequer in 1702, and was judged
to be a useful contact where posts in the revenue departments were concerned. Beaumont’s
advocates also hoped to secure the patronage of the Duke of Leeds13 who, though declining
in both health and influence, was an obvious choice when pressing a Yorkshireman’s claims
at Westminster.
From the outset, however, Lord Downe appears to have entertained little hope that
endeavours on Beaumont s behalf would be successful. His letter of 7 December 171014
to Beaumont at Lascelles Hall was short and formal.
You may be assured I shall always be ready to serve you in what lies in my power. I have endeavoured to speak
to Baron Price but as yet have been unsuccessful in not finding him.
On the other hand Sir Arthur, full of enthusiasm after having won his first term at
Westminster and anxious to please his constituent, rated Beaumont’s chances more highly.
9 Hughes, E., Studies in Administration and Finance, 1558-1825 (Manchester, 1934), pp. 225-66.
10 The dispute originated in Beaumont’s large inheritance in 1704 from the senior branch of the family. In that year
Richard Beaumont ol Whitley Hall had died childless. By a family settlement his estate, worth £1,350 per
annum, passed to his mother, Dame Frances Beaumont, for life with reversion to Richard Beaumont (then
junior) ot Lascelles Hall. However, by his will the deceased made this reversion conditional on the payment by
Richard ot all such legacies and sums of money’ as were provided therein. Although the gross annual rental of
the Whitley estate was already almost wholly disposed of either in jointures or annuities, the will provided for
a f urther annuity of £40, and for legacies totalling £7, 100. The latter included a legacy of £6,000 to the testator’s
widow, Dame Katherine, despite the fact that she was to receive an annuity of £900 from the Whitley estate in
lieu of her jointure. Moreover, Dame Katherine received the whole of her husband’s personal estate and was
named his executrix. Thus, a situation arose in which three individuals, the two widows and Richard Beaumont
of Lascelles Hall, all had large and conflicting interests in the Whitley estate. Rumours that Dame Katherine had
unduly influenced her husband during the drafting of the will precipitated the dispute. In 1707 Chancery decreed
that Dame Katherine should receive payment ot both the annuity and the legacy before Richard Beaumont
entered into the estate. Thereafter the latter s lawyers fought this decision, attempting at least to obtain as much
delay as possible in the date finally set for payment. Public Record Office, Chancery Proceedings C 22/27/1 v
DD/WBW/42; DD/WBL/99/6-8, 107/2.
11 Sir Henry Dawnay of Cowick, second Viscount Downe, 1664-1741, son and heir of the first Viscount Downe
was M.P. for Pontefract 1690-5, and M.P. for the county 1698-1700 and 1707-27. G.E.C. The Complete Peerage,
Gibbs, V. (Ed.), (1916) iv, p. 452; Gooder, Parliamentary Representation of Yorkshire, ii, p. 97.
12 1655-1733, enjoyed a highly successful career which spanned politics (M.P. for Weobley from 1687), the law,
and the civil service, though he was never knighted. Diet. Not. Bioo., xvi, pp. 337—8
13 Sir Thomas Osborne of Kiveton, successively first Earl of Danby, Marquis of Carmarthen, and Duke of Leeds,
i^ i7i712’ son ^lr Edward Osborne of the same, and one of the most successful and experienced politicians
ot his generation. The standard biography is Browning, A., Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby and Duke of Leeds
1632-1712 (Glasgow, 1951). ~ j >
14 DD/WBC/88.
THE COUNTY SQUIREARCHY AND THE FIGHT FOR PLACE
105
Writing on 9 December,15 he looked forward to a radical change in the criteria by which
o-overnment appointments had hitherto been made.
& Yours found me unfortunately confined in the gout which will prevent me showing you how ready and glad
I should have been to have run upon your commands upon the first notice. But I hope a few days more wil
set me at liberty, and you may be assured of all the application I could exert for myself in anything I thought
most desirable. And when one asks nothing for oneself I may be allowed to be the more importunate for a
friend And I hope you have chose[n] a favourable juncture, and that things will not be disposed of by the same
standard of deserving . . . that . . . has so long been the rule and step to preferments but that gentlemen of family
and merit will now be advanced, and [that] the appearance of virtue which they affect will become real. During
my confinement Lord Downe will see Judge Price, which he has once attempted, and then consider by what
steps and application we may be the most likely to succeed.
This was encouraging. But other news from London was quite the reverse. On 12
December Beaumont suffered a setback in his lawsuit.16 Henceforward he was under the
constant threat of a sudden and severe deterioration in his financial circumstances. However,
Sir Arthur’s next letter, of 14 December,17 brought some consolation. The Duke of Leeds
was inaccessible, but Sir Arthur had had a useful conversation with Price. He had also
contacted Robert Benson, another very influential Yorkshire politician, whom Harley
had recently appointed a Lord of the Treasury.18 .
Since I have been able to go out I have endeavoured to wait upon the Duke of Leeds but he is not well. I ave
spoke[n] to Baron Price, who I believe is very much your friend, and [he] recommends the Stamp Office which
is Y300 or /400 per annum. For that something must be fixed on before we apply. I have likewise spoke[n]
to Mr. Benson, which being without your orders I hope you’ll pardon, but [I] thought it better to go to t e
fountainhead, which I take that application to be. He gave me a very civil answer, and [said] that when there
was room he should be ready to serve you. And you may be sure [that] I won t want any application to put
him or any other of our friends in mind who I think may assist; and that nothing shall be said of it till tis done,
which I hope to give you a good account of.
Clearly, at this stage Sir Arthur considered that prospects were promising. Greatly
encouraged, Beaumont suggested that he should lend support to Sir Arthur s efforts by
writing to Benson. He also felt that it might be wise for him to take up residence for a while
in London.
In his letter of 21 December,19 however, Sir Arthur advised against the latter course of
action. He did not want his friend’s hopes to rise too swiftly. His own enthusiasm had
waned considerably during the previous week, following sobering conversations with
the Duke of Leeds and Baron Price. Both had pointed out to him that there was a huge
demand for posts in the civil service, and that those which were vacant would no doubt
be reserved for the friends of more influential politicians than himself.
When I was with the Duke of Leeds ... he told me [that] he would use his endeavours for you in anything he
could when able to stir, though nothing can be hoped for in the Stamps. For which such innumerable and
immediate applications have been made to the Queen that she said she was never more surprised, and conceived
something very extraordinary in that office which she believed she did not thoroughly understand ... Baron
Price . . . mentioned the Salt Duty as being near the same value, and was so kind [as] to let me use his name.
But I fear we must both start and pervue the game, and I doubt [not that] these are all reserved for services at
the conclusion of the session, of which I should be glad to find myself mistaken ... I cannot see your being
here can yet be of much service because you may attend without being able to fix. And yet I must own that was
anything actually vacant your soliciting in person might do good because before I can send to you to come it
may be gone. But I can assure you [that] I will watch the best I can so that if I am not so soon successful you must
impute it to want of interest.
15 DD/WBC/93. Although they eventually joined forces to fight the election, there had been much bad feeling
between Kaye and Downe, and their respective supporters, in the period preceding the poll. This may account
to some extent for the markedly differing reactions of the two M.P.s to Beaumont’s enquiries, for he was clearly
much closer to the former than to the latter. B.M. Add MS 24, 475, ff. I37_9-
16 Chancery decreed that the reversion of the Whitley estate was to pass to Dame Katherine unless Beaumont paid
her the legacy within two years. His lawyers suggested, and Beaumont had no alternative but to agree, that as
a last line of defence they try to obtain an extension of this time limit. DD/WBC/89.
17
1 8
)D/WBC/94-
676-1731, of Wrenthorpe, created Baron Bingley in 1713. M.P. for Thetford 1702-5, and for the city of York
705-13. At this point Benson’s fortunes were very much in the ascendant. Within six months he had become
ffiancelior and Under Treasurer of the Exchequer, and a Privy Councillor. Diet. Nat. Biog., ii, p. 259. For an
ndication of the wealth which accrued from his public success see: Ward,J. T., ‘The Saving of a Yorkshire
-state: George Lane-Fox and Bramham Park’, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, xlii, p. 64.
19 DD/WBC/95.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Sir Arthur had been very rapidly disillusioned. The method of allocating posts in the
government service was, or so it seemed, the same as before. The great Tory victory at
the polls had changed the balance, but not the use, of power. ‘Family’, ‘merit’ and ‘virtue’
were not to be guiding factors. As had previously been the case, there would be little
chance of achieving anything in politics without ‘interest’, ‘service’ or the ability to
exchange favour for favour. The prospects for a young backbencher, newly arrived from
t e provinces, as well as for those whom he represented, were grim. Not surprisingly
Sir Arthur was bitter. r 5
There is a wide difference between a sincere intention and a Court artful way of keeping friends in
expectancies, [which] we poor country men neither know how to practise, nor relishwhen we see it Though
nhdXVThy be the mOSu1Unfrt man in ,the WOrld to aPPly because 1 would take all that is said to be intended
L be J the more sensible of any coolness I might meet with in different conversations in these occasions’
complacent Zwers^ ^ “ lnteaded “ ^ °ther ^ than 1 3111 Uneasy at any delaY> for 1 have Yet
However, despite his accumulating pessimism, Sir Arthur was able to suggest another
alternative to the Stamps .
What it anything in the Customs of equal advantage though of less noise and figure should offer?
C fltv ugfree<v \at lt WOL!, ^ a §oocl tlimg f°r Beaumont to write to Robert Benson.
' T 11 I^lgh,t do,veury WUC L f nd ground 11 uPon the hopes I gave you of his being your friend when an
of the Salt Dutv ton ‘T ‘T8? th"e TJT '' be ?0n,eVyet belng told there would be in officers
Salt Duty, you desire his favour And if you think fit to, add anything under the Commissioners ofthe
to yornfficHnaTons ^ '° '**• ** ” SOme good -Citable. But this I mj. submit
On receiving Kaye s letter Beaumont immediately wrote to Benson, sending Sir Arthur
a copy of his letter. Beaumont apologised to the latter for the trouble he was causing him.
He also asked whether anything more had been heard from the Duke of Leeds By the
time Sir Arthur next wrote to Lascelles Hall, on 30 December, Parliament had risen
tor the Christmas recess.
l2Zy°A UdW1a natitahmK thereuneeds any aPology; lf 1 can be of any service to you I shall be abundantly
pleased. And indeed I doubt not but the Duke would be very willing to serve you, but [I] am afraid his ill health
denies him several opportunities, for I think he declines, and is not yet able to stir anywhere
Nevertheless, if it was to be achieved, success would depend on the weight of support
mobilised on Beaumont’s behalf. Somehow the influence of the Duke of Leeds had to be
tapped.
I fancy it would not be improper if you got Mr. Elmsall to mention you to Mr. Wells to put his Grace in
mmd of my having spoke[n] of you at reasonable tiniest Because I know he has a very good opinion of the
first, and the latter has much his ear and consequently opportunities of doing it. But whether you think well
to mention such a thing at all to Mr. Elmsall I must refer to yourself. Lord Downe and I were^to wait on the
Duke on Wednesday to second what I said before, but could not see him.
Sir Arthur was disappointed in Baron Price’s lack of interest, and he suggested that
Beaumont write to him too.
I wish Baron Price would be so kind [as] to interest himself a little more in this, and would apply in person with
me. For the more appears, the better grace it gives, as well as [the] more force to the importunity; without
which they cool or forget civil answers, being so much the style ofthe Court that not much more can be de-
°n Lf”1 ^?nAaS4thly 87e fountenance, to renew and repeat the application. I think yours to Mr.
Benson mighty well. And what think you if you write to Baron Price at his chambers in Sergeants Inn to the
purpose have before hinted for as he expresses himself your friend he cannot take it amiss. But if you please
[do] not. . .take any notice of what I have said, which truly proceeds from a zeal of succeeding for you. ’
hese remarks on the circumstances with which they were having to contend prompted
Sir Arthur to offer further reflections on his experiences during his first session at West-
minster. Though not without hope, he was full of foreboding.
I am very sensible that most in the country think we, who in some sense carry up the thoughts and interest of
our country, may justly challenge a regard from a ministry so young, and to which they owe all the good pros-
pect they can have in true policy. But I must tell you my opinion: that I much fear whether this Parliament
wi either answer those just expectations the people have from it; whether they will come into any effectual
enquiries to lay open the late mismanagements; or give us that security to the Church we have wanted and
thought necessary and now expected. And consequently [I doubt] whether we shall keep that regular good
correspondence which at this time is absolutely necessary to fix the interest of the nation upon a right bottom,
20 DD/WBC/96.
21 It has proved impossible to obtain information on Elmsall and Wells.
THE COUNTY SQUIREARCHY AND THE FIGHT FOR PLACE
107
and no less necessary to establish their new power. If this be not done, we country gentlemen must expect
as little regard as they have formerly met with. But if it be [done] I hope we may at some time or other serve
our friends as well as our country. And since some of us desire nothing for ourselves, I hope we may reasonably
expect the other. But though this is what I own, I can’t but fear from some things I have already observed.
Yet I am pretty confident that, if none will suffer themselves to be drawn off, ’tis entirely in their power by
keeping firmly and closely united to make the ministry in a great measure come in to us, instead of our
depending on them. But a little time after this recess will give more light into this, and determine whether I
make a right or a wrong judgment.
Sir Arthur ended by sympathising with Beaumont over recent developments in the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Sir Arthur’s wife22 was coming to the end of a difficult pregnancy, and he
did not write again for more than a month. However, he was far from inactive. On 21
January 1711 Beaumont received a letter from his sisters in London.23 After giving him
the latest encouraging news of their own and Sir Arthur’s efforts on his behalf, they invited
Beaumont to come and stay with them in London. Beaumont immediately wrote to Sir
Arthur.24
This post brought me a letter from my sisters with the good account of my Lady Kaye’s being out of all danger,
which we are very glad of. They tell me of your further kindness in applying to Mr. Harley, and that they have
spoke[n] to Mr. B[enson], who said he would do anything to serve me, and would wait of you to Mr. Harley’s
when you pleased. I am extremely obliged to you for all the trouble I have given you, and shall ever own the
obligation, let the success be what it will. My sisters, having a spare room, have given me an invitation to come
up to them, so that my charge in Town won’t be much, [so] that whenever you think it may be proper for me
[I] shall accept of their kindness.
Although contact had at last been made with Harley, Sir Arthur was at pains to avoid
raising Beaumont’s expectations when he next wrote to Lascelles Hall on 6 February.25
He had little encouragement to offer and, while he ended on a hopeful note, he remained
undecided as to the wisdom of Beaumont’s coming to London.
You would think I had quite forgot myself when I was so long silent, but I was unwilling to write when I
could say nothing to the purpose, though I am at last forced to it lest you should think me remiss. As to Mr.
Elmsall, I believe you might safely confide in him was there occasion for it, but what you say of Baron Price’s
speaking to a gentleman who has the Duke’s ear makes that unnecessary. And having broke the ice to the
Duke, the sooner that gentleman is spoke[n] to with a proper argument upon condition of success the better.
I have been twice at Judge Price’s but [I] am afraid ’twill be difficult to get him to go to Harley till the hurry
of the term is over. I cannot tell what to advise about your coming up till we are assured [that] there is a vacancy;
but with [the] conveniency of your Ladies’ house it cannot be much charge, and may be an advantage, always
thinking that business goes best forward that is solicited in person. And I do really believe [that] there will be
several removes towards the end of this session.
Beaumont hesitated. He was still at Lascelles Hall when he received Sir Arthur’s letter
of 3 March.26 Although the latter had some scathing remarks to make about Harley,27
he had been extremely busy on Beaumont’s behalf, and was somewhat more optimistic
than previously.
As I would let you know every step we make here, that you may make the better judgment of my hopes and
fears of their success as they have their turns, I would be particular in their account. And after missing of Baron
Price in several attempts I had at last the good fortune to see him, and the pleasure to find [that] he had not
been inactive. And [he] told me [that] Mr. Harley owned [that] there would be several moves, and that he
would oblige the gentlemen in our interest, but desired to do it to as many at once as could be. So that the Baron
advised me to press Lord Downe to a vigorous seconding [of] me which, after having again spoke[n] to Mr.
Harley, I did. And likewise to Mr. Benson, who is indeed very civil and frank, which is not the other’s
character. And he gave us leave to use his name and to desire the Chancellor would take your character from
him, which he would give as much to your advantage in this matter as any friend you had. My Lord spoke to
Mr. Harley who desired a memorandum of your name, which gave me an assurance of success. But my Lord
told me yesterday [that] when he gave him the paper which I had writ for you, he made him no answer at all,
22 Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Samuel Marrow, baronet, of Berkswell, Warwickshire. Married in 1690,
Lady Kaye died in 1740. Foster, Yorkshire Pedigrees, i.
23 Beaumont had five sisters, one of whom died young. Which of the survivors offered him hospitality on this
occasion remains uncertain. Foster, Yorkshire Pedigrees, i.
24 DD/WBC/91.
25 DD/WBC/97.
26 DD/WBC/98.
27 His most recent biographer maintains that in his political actions Harley chose ‘purity of soul’ before ‘efficient
government’. However, Dr Holmes has argued strongly in reply that Harley’s record, particularly in regard
to Place bills, ‘simply did not stand up to examination in the eyes of the true Country member’. Mclnnes,
Harley, Puritan Politician, pp. 171-2; E.H.R., lxxxvii (1972), p. 129.
io8
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
which being liable to a double construction I know not which way to interpret it ... In truth nothing is to be
entirely depended on from that statesman till ’tis actually done.
Nevertheless, Sir Arthur felt that Beaumont’s presence in London might now be helpful.
We both now incline to wish that you were here as the session draws towards a conclusion, about which time
I doubt not but there will be changes. And as your conveniency here with the Ladies will be so great, I can’t but
think it worth a month or six weeks’ appearance, though I dare not direct without being assured of the event.
This was exactly what Beaumont had been waiting for, and he set out for London
immediately. However, the two letters which he wrote to his wife, Susannah, before the
end of March contained nothing but disappointing news. It proved impossible to see
Harley, who was ill. Attempts to lobby Mr Benson were equally unsuccessful. Beaumont
decided to linger in London in the hope that something would turn up. Indeed, there was
a development, but it was not what was hoped for. With her letter to Beaumont of
30 March his wife enclosed a letter from a Mr P. Shelton,28 which informed her husband
that he had been nominated a Justice of the Peace for the WTst Riding m a new commission.
Small consolation for so much endeavour, the post could hardly be refused, though it
promised to exacerbate Beaumont’s financial difficulties. Meanwhile, back in the West
Riding people had begun to speculate wildly as to the reasons for Beaumont’s sudden trip
south. His wife could not:
forbear telling you [that] your neighbours have found out business for you in Town. One is that you have sold
Lascelles tor .£4,000, and have gone to give my Lord Westmoreland possession or else pay him the money.
The other is [that] you have a prospect from the Queen of a great place at Court so have gone to give
attendance. I could be glad the latter would take effect.
Susannah wanted Beaumont to return quickly or, if he remained in London, to give her
a full account of what was going on.
I’m sorry it will be so long a time before Mr. Har[le]y gets abroad; I’m afraid it will keep you from me longer
than I hoped. Pray let me know what encouragement Sir Arthur gives, and if he has proposed what he could
approve on tor you. If the other thinks fit, I shall be glad to hear you have had better success in meeting with
Mr. B[enson], and what he says to the matter. Pray be a little more particular to me for it will be some
satisfaction to me to know how you go on till the final determination, which I pray God [to] grant [that it] may
answer our wishes.
Unfortunately, if Beaumont did write further letters before he returned home, they are
not extant.
Only two further letters survive. They indicate that efforts to get Beaumont a job
continued for many months, but remained unsuccessful. On 20 December 1711 Sir Arthur
wrote to Beaumont at Lascelles Hall.29
You have much more reason dear Sir to think me remiss, who have been so long here without giving you any
account of matters. But the true reason was my hopes of saying something to the purpose. But my Lord [?]
sees no company at all, pretending I suppose a politic indisposition. And I have been twice disappointed in my
visits to Baron Price. So that I can say nothing more than that I am very well assured [?] first has mentioned
you and remembers the recommendation, so that I hope it will take effect. But whether much will be done till
the peace is concluded I know not. But you may be assured no application nor any opportunity shall be
ommitted, and you may be sure to hear from me as often as I can tell you anything material. And I confess I
cannot see your being here could yet be of much service.
Apparently, Beaumont had recently been put forward as a candidate for the shrievalty,
a post which often involved its holder in considerable expenditure.30 However, this was
merely a manoeuvre and not meant to be successful, though it very nearly was. Kaye
went on :
I doubt not but you know Mr. Vavasour31 is sheriff. What was done towards your being on was intended as
a kindness but by a mistake, not knowing [that] your being presented and recommended was with any other
prospect. And had it been so I own I should have been afraid [that] my Lord might have thought all
obligations of promise cancelled and performed, though indeed I do not believe that was the design of the
gentleman, of which more when I see you.
28 DD/WBC/92 (both letters). Beaumont had married Susannah Horton of Barkisland 111 1700. Dngdale’s
Visitation of Yorkshire with Additions, Clay, J. W. (Ed.), (Exeter, 1917), iii, p. 224.
29 DD/WBC/99. Two names in the following extract, and another in a later one, are indecipherable due to the
poor condition of the respective MSS.
30 ‘The Sheriff’s main functions were honorary and expensive’. Williams, B., The Whig Supremacy, 1714-60 (Revised
by Stuart, C. H., Oxford, 1962), p. 49.
31 Of a minor Yorkshire gentry family, being from neither the Vavasours of Haslewood, nor those of
Copmanthorpe.
THE COUNTY SQUIREARCHY AND THE FIGHT FOR PLACE
109
Beaumont was extremely disconcerted by this near miss, and Sir Arthur raised the subject
again when he wrote to Lascelles Hall on New Year s day 1712. 32
I hope you received iny last which, though writ in haste, gave you all the account I then could or can yet send
you of the affair. For I have never yet seen the Baron, though I have been three times there since my last.
Once again Sir Arthur had little or no encouragement to offer. One of the greatest
difficulties lay in trying to keep people interested in, and aware of, Beaumont and his
aspirations at a time when so many other, much more significant matters contrived
continuously to distract them.
And Lord [?] sees nobody in public; nor has he leisure at this time to think of small things when the greatest
are upon deliberation. And there is prodigious bustling and caballing. The Duke of Marlborough is out of all
his posts and great heats appear even in private conversation. How all things will be settled I know not. And
I pray God [will] keep us quiet from the attempts of those who are ever restless.
And so after concerted efforts which had lasted for more than a year Richard Beaumont
was still without the additional income which he sorely needed. Nor was he ever success-
ful in obtaining a salaried post. Indeed, towards the end of 1712 he was appointed to the
high shrievalty of Yorkshire, the position which he most wanted to avoid, and which
greatly increased his financial difficulties.33 These came to a head in 1713 with the
end of his lawsuit. The final Chancery decree was, typically, a compromise which provided
Beaumont and his family with substantial long-term gains at the price of heavy short-term
expenditure. When he died in 1723 Beaumont owed more than -^15, 000. 34 His family
were never entirely free of debt until well into the nineteenth century, despite the fact
that a long minority provided them with an opportunity for considerable retrenchment.30
Sir Arthur Kaye died in 1726. Not much is known of the rest of his career. However,
the fact that he retained his seat at Westminster until his death emphasises the extent to
which he reflected the hopes and aspirations of one section of the provincial squirearchy.
Alive to the dangers threatening the Church, impatient with the cost of involvement over-
seas, he was above all deeply mistrustful of the manner in which power and patronage
were exercised.36 To his mind both were wielded to the detriment of poor country men ,
a conviction which was bolstered by the failure of his efforts on Richard Beaumont s
behalf. There is no doubt that the expansion of the government service during this period
enabled many landed families to supplement their incomes. Officeholding was for many
of them a means of discharging debts, of financing estate expansion, and of general
economic consolidation.37 Nevertheless, the demand for salaried posts was always much
greater than the supply. Many less influential members of the squirearchy, like the Beau-
monts, were unable, despite persistent efforts, to diversify their economies by officeholding.
Naturally sympathetic to the Tory position, they were bitterly disappointed, as were many
of their representatives on the backbenches, when the situation in regard to place changed
little after the election victory of 1710.
32 DD/WBC/100.
33 Beaumont was appointed on 11 December. P.R.O., Lists and Indexes, ix, p. 164.
34 On 19 November 1713 Chancery ordered Beaumont to pay 7T’000 within four days, and a further T4> 0°°
by the following Spring. He was forced to sell Lascelles Hall. Despite this, he had to raise very substantial loans
in order finally to discharge his debts to Dame Katherine. However, following Dame Frances Beaumont s death
in 1717, he was allowed to enter into the WTitley estate. This increased his credit worthiness, though many
debts remained unpaid. DD/WBW/59, 61; WBL/106/1, 3; _ 107/3, 10; Tolson, L., History of the Church of St.
John the Baptist, Kirkheaton, Yorkshire, and Annals of the Parish (Kendal, 1929), p. 128.
35 For a description of the economic fortunes of the family in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries see . Roebuck,
P., ‘Four Yorkshire Landowning Families, 1640-1760. An Economic History , unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Hull
University, 1970, i, pp. 122-218.
36 According to Dr Holmes, ‘no contemporary material illustrates more vividly the negative side of the country
member’s prejudices than’ Sir Arthur’s ‘few surviving letters . British Politics in the Age of Anne, p. 123.
37 The modern civil service owes its origin not to the nineteenth century but to the erection of the government
machinery needed to fight the wars against France after 1688. Hughes, Studies in Administration and Finance, p. 267.
no
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE
IN THE LOWER DEARNE VALLEY:
A CASE STUDY
By J. C. Harvey
Summary The good documentation for eight townships in the lower Dearne valley during the eighteenth century
enables the varying process of the enclosure of their common fields to be studied The importfnee of phys.cal
factors in determining the form of field systems is also examined.
I
There is substantial documentary and field evidence to confirm that by 1700 few lowland
South Yorkshire parishes had been unaffected by enclosure of common field land. Many of
the plans attached to parliamentary enclosure awards of the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries testify to the extent of pre-parliamentary piecemeal enclosure. Such enclosure,
argely undocumented, is generally indicated by the long, narrow, often curved, ‘ancient
inclosures contained within the common-field area on the award plans.1 Occasionally it
is possible to document this process of partial enclosure as at Campsall and Norton,2
Greasborough,3 and at Brampton Bierlow.4 Elsewhere the rate and extent of piecemeal
enclosure can be gauged over a period as at Shafton, near Barnsley, largely open in 1597, 5
yet with only residual common field parcels by the late seventeenth century,6 or at Bads-
worth with 456 acres in four common fields in 163 2 7 reduced to 143 acres in three fileds
by 18 1 3. 8
This largely undocumented pre-eighteenth-century enclosure of common field must have
been at least as important, in terms of acreage enclosed, as parliamentary enclosure of
common field in the coal measures region of South Yorkshire. Even so by the beginning of
the eighteenth century few townships east of Sheffield were without some common field,
and m the two South Yorkshire wapentakes of North and South Strafforth and Tickhill
two thirds of the townships had common field surviving into the eighteenth century. 9
In Strafforth and Tickhill North, of which the Dearne valley forms a part, there is eighteenth-
century evidence for the existence of common field in 29 out of the total of 42 townships.
However the amount of remaining common field was often small and in the whole wapen-
take represented only eight per cent of the total area.10 Two main factors contributed to
this low proportion of common-field land. Firstly the significant amount of pre-
parliamentary enclosure which had occurred, and secondly the fact that the wapentake
1 a discussion of the significance of such enclosures see, Eyre, S. R., ‘The Curving Plough Strip and its
Historical Implications , Agri. Hist. Rev., iii (1955), 8pp. 80-94.
2 Sh0eff^eld City Libraries, Archives Department (subsequently referred to as S.C.L.), Bacon-Frank MS Deeds
1:78-870, and, Nicholson Papers, 72-104.
3 S.C.L., Calendar of Deeds at Wentworth Woodhouse, p. 58.
4 S.C.L., Newman and Bond Collection (N.B.C.), pp. 227.
Nottinghamshire Record Office, ‘A plat of the Lordship of Shafton . . . made by Christopher Saxton’.
6 Nottingham University Department of Manuscripts (N.U.D.M ), Galway MS 12 127
7 S.C.L., E (263) iR. ’ ’
West Riding Registry of Deeds (W.R.R.D.), B 30 p. 195, parliamentary enclosure award.
9 1 his estimate is based on the evidence of parliamentary enclosure awards and a detailed search of estate records
relating to the area.
10 8,81 1 acres of a total area of 107,240 acres. This proportion is in contrast to those of 12 per cent and 14 per cent
common-held land in the two lowland wapentakes of Lower and Upper Osgoldcross.
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE DEARNE VALLEY
III
extends to the western boundary of the West Riding and therefore includes within its
area a number of settlements in the Pennine area which probably never had large acreages
of common field and which contained within their boundaries vast acreages of commons
and waste lands.11
In the lower Dearne valley between Barnsley and Mexborough the total surviving
common-field area in 1700, in contrast to the South Yorkshire region as a whole,
represented over 16 per cent of the total area of the valley townships whilst other
common land - meadows (ings), moors, common pastures, woods, and wastes - made
up a further 10 per cent of the area. Of the 14 major settlements to the east of Barnsley
five, Little Houghton, Billingley, Goldthorpe (in Bolton-upon-Dearne parish), Darfield,
and Womb well have no evidence of common field later than 1700. 12 Of the remaining
major settlements, Ardsley, Bolton-upon-Dearne, Adwick-upon-Deame, Wath-upon-
Dearne, Brampton Bierlow and Mexborough each had three major common fields:
Table 1
Lower Dearne Valley Common-Field Townships in the Eighteenth Century
Ardsley
Date of
Enclosure
Area of
township
Area of
commons
Area of
common
fields
and ings
Details of Fields (Acres)
1788
(private
agreement)
1763
(act)
1,030
300
97
North Field (39), Dobhill Field (26),
Hunningley Field (32)
Cudworth
1812
1,520
190
54
Upper Town Field
Brampton Bierlow
Brampton Bierlow
1820
1714
(private
agreement)
3U50
30
230
507
Winterwell Field (130), West Field
(153), Low Cliff Fie d (47), Upper Cliff
Field (26) and others.
Hoober Common
Bolton-upon-
Dearne
Goldthorpe
1760
J
2,390
955
759
Low Field (193), Near Carr Field (147),
Ing Field (245), Ings (173)
Wath-upon-Dearne
1814
L550
370
547
School Field (107), Far Field (118),
Sandygate Field (125), the remaining
land being moors and ings.
Adwick-upon-
Dearne
—
1,130
—
365
Field Next Wath (123), Sticking Hill
Field (133), Field Next Town (109).
Barnburgh-cum-
Harlington
1822
1,770
273
801
West Field (21 1), St. Helen’s Field
(155), Quarry Field (149), Swainherd
Fieid (75), Church Field (75), Ludwell
Field (64), Hall Crofts Field (43),
Bracken Pitts Field (7)
Mexborough
1861
(common)
1,260
90
861
Wood Field (266), Middle Field (252),
Low Field (141), Rakes (35), Ings (167)
11 The Bradfield parliamentary enclosure award of 1826 enclosed 247 acres of common field, but also 1 3,526 acres
of commons and waste.
12 For Wombwell the latest evidence for common field is the sixteenth century ( Yorkshire Archaeological Society ,
Record series, xvii, pp. 204-9). For Billingley and Goldthorpe the latest references to common field are for the
seventeenth century (S.C.L. WW/Br 182 for Billingley and N.P. 329 for Goldthorpe).
1 12
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Barnborough and Harlington shared a substantial common arable area divided into seven
fields, whilst Cudworth had one remaining field of 54 acres13 (see Table 1).
The remaining common-field area was, therefore, not evenly distributed amongst the
settlements. The largest common-field areas were to be found in the easterly or down-
stream group of townships between Brampton and Mexborough. At one extreme was
Mexborough with over 70 per cent of its area in common field and at the other Ardsley
with less than 10 per cent, Cudworth three per cent, and Womb well with no common
field.
The decreasing significance of common field in an upstream direction seems to reflect
the increased physical complexity of the upstream townships compared to those in the
downstream area. So, for example, considerable areas of Ardsley, Wombwell and
Brampton are above the 200 ft. (61 m) contour, contrasting with Adwick, Mexborough,
and Bolton, most of whose areas lie below this level. Conversely common-field survival
13 In 1480 the only other documentary reference to common field in Cudworth, the settlement had four common
fields ( Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record series, 66, no. 77).
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE DEARNE VALLEY
113
is not solely a function of geographical factors, for these do not explain the early dis-
appearance of such land in Billingley and Little Houghton, townships whose physical
structure would normally allow substantial common-field development.
These differences of common-field form and survival in the valley suggest the area as a
valuable case study, for here were found field arrangements and degrees of enclosure
representative of South Yorkshire as a whole. In addition, because the valley has a degree
of physical unity and it is possible to recognise similar physical regions in each of the
townships, it is also possible to relate field-system form to physical features. Furthermore
the valley townships are well documented for this period so making it possible to make a
more detailed study of the various human factors affecting field— system form and
enclosure.14
The lower Dearne valley lies wholly within the exposed coalfield of South Yorkshire
with the exception of a small part of the parish of Barnburgh-cum-Harlmgton whose
northern boundary coincides with the scarp slope of the magnesian limestone cuesta. The
River Dearne is the central feature forming the common boundary of the north and south
bank townships (Fig. 1). The river is a left-bank tributary of the Don which it joins at
Mexborough. Between Barnsley and Darfield the Dearne flows firstly in an easterly, then
in a southerly direction and in a fairly well-defined valley. Below Darfield the valley is
considerably wider and the river meanders across an alluvial flood plain as much as two
miles wide.15 The lower, easterly, group of townships, below Darfield therefore contain
a much larger area of alluvial, valley-bottom land than do those above Darfield.
Moving upstream, townships have increasingly large areas of higher land. This is
especially so for Brampton and Wombwell where coal-measures sandstone gives rise to
significant physical features such as Hoober Stand in Brampton where a height of over
500 ft. (152 m) is reached. This increased physical complexity, as already suggested, is
reflected quite clearly in the higher proportion of enclosed land or ‘ancient Inclosures
and the small area, or lack of common field by the eighteenth century, particularly in
Brampton, Wombwell and Ardsley. This is in complete contrast to the situation in the
downstream group of townships, particularly Wath, Bolton, Adwick, Mexborough,
Barnburgh and Harlington, where common fields were extensive and organised on a
regular basis (Table 1), coinciding with the availability of more extensive areas of gently-
sloping, well-drained land above the flood plain (Fig. 2).
In this lower group of townships, and to a lesser extent in the upstream townships, a
most distinctive pattern of land use zoning was discernible coinciding with three broad
physical divisions within each township. Firstly the flood-plain area was occupied as
ill-drained common as, for example, Wath Low Common and Bolton Common. In
addition large areas along the Dearne were given over to common meadows (mgs), parti-
cularly in the townships of Wath, Bolton, Barnburgh-cum-Harlington and Mexborough,
whilst in Wath, and the upstream townships of Wombwell, Darfield, Billingley, Little
Houghton, and Cudworth the land immediately along the river was enclosed meadow and
pasture. There is no doubt that before the effects of post-medieval enclosure most of the
land along the river was common. As late as the nineteenth century small parcels of common
14 The main documentary sources are: (a) Parliamentary enclosure awards and plans, (b) S.C.L. Wentworth-
Woodhouse MS. (c) Wentworth Woodhouse Estate Office, estate records of the Fitzwilliam estates, (d) S.C.L.
N.B.C. (e) S.C.L., Fairbank Collection, eighteenth and nineteenth century plans, surveys, and field books,
(f) N.U.D.M., Manvers Manuscripts (for Adwick. (g) S.C.L., Spencer-Stanhope MS (tor Mexborough).
(h) Other estate material is to be found in the Battie-Wrightson MS (Leeds City Library (L.C.L.)), and the
Nicholson Papers and Baxter Collection (S.C.L.). The author wishes to thank Earl Fitzwilliam and his trustees
and Mr. S. W. Fraser for permission to use sources (b) and (g).
15 Historically and even today the flood plain is aptly named. The ill-drained nature of the land is attested in
seventeenth-century paines of Wath manor court, one of which in 1617 fined the inhabitants for not making up
the bank of the brook end whereby the water runneth out of its right course to the mores and medowes beneath
them’. (S.C.L., Wentworth Woodhouse Muniments (W.W.M.) — C2 — 70).
1T4
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
pasture remained along the river in Billingley,16 whilst Darfield had small parcels of
common meadow and carr remaining.17 Again, Wombwell in 1861 had closes along the
Dearne named Ings Closes, Marsh Close, Wet Moor and Rough Carrs, so confirming the
the evidence of a sixteenth-century terrier which describe extensive areas of common
meadow, marsh, and moor on the flood-plain area.18 Finally, in Wath the areas of pasture
along the river called Holme Pasture Closes and Coneygarth Closes had been enclosed by
an agreement of 163 4. 19
The settlements themselves mark the limit of this first land use zone and the beginning
of the second which, in the lower group of townships, is the area of common arable field.
So Mexborough, Harlington, Adwick, Bolton, Wath, Darfield and Little Houghton are
all sited just above the flood plain between the meadows, pastures, and commons below, and
the arable lands above (see Fig. 2). Wath and Adwick, for example, are located on the 100 ft.
16 S.C.L., N.B.C., 55, Billingley enclosure agreement 1822.
17 S.C.L., N.B.C. p. 409.
S.C.L., N.B.C. p. 93, and Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record series, xvii, pp. 204—9
19 S.C.L., W.W.M.D. 1759.
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE DEARNE VALLEY
H5
(30 m) contour, to the north, between the settlements and the river lay, in the case of Wath,
the common, moors,20 meadows, and enclosed pastures, and in the case of Adwick the
common, whilst to the south, or in Adwick s case the south east, lay the common fields on
the well-drained slopes of the coal measures between the 100 and 200 ft. contours.
Similarly the north-bank settlements of Harlington and Bolton are both sited around the
100 ft. (30 m) mark. Harlington is quite definitely on the land-use boundary separating
common below the village from common arable above, whilst at Bolton the relationship
between topography and land use is less distinct, with the aptly-named common field
‘Low Field’ being located on the flood-plain area (see Fig. 2).
A third land-use zone can be identified beyond the area of common arable at Wath above
the 200 ft. (61 m) level, at Wath V/ood, an area of common woodland before parliamentary
enclosure in the early nineteenth century. A similar pattern can be seen at Womb well,
which also had a common wood in the higher, more remote part of the township at Ardsley,
with an extensive common in the west part of the township, and at Brampton Bierlow with
large areas of woodland, enclosed pasture, and former common in the south part of the
township.
Thus the three land-use zones of meadow, common and pasture on the valley floor,
common arable and former common arable around the settlements above the flood plain
and commons, woods, and enclosed pastures in the more distant areas of irregular relief
are present to varying degrees in all of the townships, although it is the first two zones
which predominate in the downstream townships and the last zone which is dominant
in the upstream settlements (Fig. 2).
The essential contrast in the Dearne valley, in this period is therefore between a group of
townships in the lower part of the valley where the common-field system was prevalent,
and a group upstream where farming in severalty was more usual. The remaining sections
of this paper will attempt to describe, analyse and perhaps account for some of
these variations in field-system form.
II
Common field arrangements in the downstream townships
Of the lower, or easterly group of townships, Bolton had proportionately the largest
area of common land. At the time of enclosure by parliamentary award in 1761, of the
total township area of around 2,000 acres over 1,700 acres was common land made up as
follows:21 (Fig. 3)
Common Fields
Low Field
Near Carr Field
Ing Field
The Ings
Commons (including pastures, holmes, and wastes)
194 acres
148 acres
245 acres
173 acres
955 acres22
The award seems to confirm that Bolton had an authentic common-field system in that
the arable was subject to common pasture-rights, for it states that the farmers did enjoy
common of pasture for their cattle . . . upon . . . Bolton common at all times of the year
and upon the other parts of the . . . lands and grounds only at some determinate times
20 The moors were open fields whose intermixed parcels contained both arable and meadow. It is likely that their
cultivation from year to year depended on the state of the ground.
21 1831 census gives 2,390 acres for Bolton (including Goldthorpe). A survey of Goldthorpe in 1760 (L.C.L.,
BW/R/63) gives its area as 342 acres.
22 Enclosure award, W.R.R.D. B3 p. 172*
the YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
of the year . Therefore as well as having a degree of formal regularity, Bolton had a
functional common-field system.
Fig. 3. Bolton-upon-Dearne, 1761.
The regularity of Bolton s field arrangement was also apparent in the distribution of
tenants lands amongst the fields. So in 1760 one holding consisted of 19 acres of enclosed
land, 10 acres in Low Field, 10 acres in Near Carr Field, and 12* acres in Ing Field as well as
eight acres in the ings.23 A century earlier the symmetry was even more marked when
Richard Tyas’ farm was made up of:
Enclosed land
Common mead
f Nether Field
< Inge Field
l^North Field
A.
R.
P.
3
1
15
T
10
1
19
15-3-8
1 5. 3. 1 2 common field
47
2
17
15-3-37 J
Total
61
1
iT
24
In each of the above examples the common-field land consisted of a large number of
scattered parcels or Lands varying in area between less than a quarter of an acre to over
one acre. Although there is naturally some evidence of consolidation, some parcels consist-
ing of two or more lands , Bolton s common-field arrangement remained largely intact
23 L.C.L., BW/R/63. "
24 S.C.L., N.P. 329.
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE DEARNE VALLEY
117
up to enclosure. Parliamentary enclosure occurred at an early date perhaps reflecting a
landownership pattern where four substantial freeholders held over half the acreage o
the township; thus a majority agreement could no doubt be procured more easily than
where there were a large number of small farms.25
In the early or mid-nineteenth century Mexborough s field arrangement was remarkably
similar to that at Bolton, with three large common fields totalling 700 acres, common ings
totalling 160 acres, a small common of 90 acres, and 300 acres of old enclosures. However
Mexborough’ s enclosure history was very different, for its common fields were enclosed
in piecemeal fashion over a period of not less than two centuries. There are re erences to
enclosures being taken out of the Fields in the mid-seventeenth century25 whilst the tithe
plan of 1839 indicates that the process was still continuing at that date (tig. 4J-
MEXBOROUGH 1839
Fig . 4 . Mexborough, 1839.
Located on the ridge between the Don and the Dearne, the township of Mexborough
enjoyed the advantages of a large area of more freely-draining land, and of a considerable
area of common meadow on the flood plain and particularly at the confluence of the two
rivers. In the mid-eighteenth century nearly 1,000 of the township s 1,260 acres was still
common land28 and farmers in 1736 remembered the taking in of part of the common fields
a few decades earlier ‘because enclosed land was so scarce .29 This enclosure movement
was to last for two centuries. However, it was in the period 1736 to 1839 that the bulk of
25 Four freeholders held over 100 acres each (including the lord of the manor with 293 acres); four held
between 25 and 50 acres; one between 10 and 25 acres; and 16 held less than 10 acres freehold.
26 S.C.L., Spencer-Stanhope Collection (Sp.St.) 60215, (1736), a legal document relating to a dispute over the
right to enclose common field land.
27 S.C.L., Baxter p. 246, on which the plan is based.
28 S.C.L., Sp.St. 60702 (2), undated field book.
29 S.C.L., Sp.St. 60215.
the YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
the enclosure of common field occurred, for in 1736 Mexborough’s field system was a
functional three field arrangement of the ‘Midland’ type with a rotation of Winter crop,
Spring crop and fallow being operated on the three groups of fields. Two of the rotation
units were Wood Field (266 acres), and Middle Field (255 acres) whilst ‘Low Field is fallowed
or sown (with) the Wheat Croft, the Crane, and the Crooked Roods and the Rakes
and these said parcels . . . being added to the Low Field make that field near an equal
quantity of land with either of the other two’.30 ^
The regularity of Mexborough’s common-field system is also illustrated by some degree
of symmetry in the distribution of holdings amongst the fields (Table 2). The tenants’
JL UUIC
Distribution ot holdings in the common fields of Mexborough in the mid-eighteenth century
Name of Farmer
Mr. Wickham’s tenants
Mr. Morton
Jos. Shepherd
Wid. Cox.
James Elam
Thos. Tyas
Thos. Watson
Rich. Wilson
John Cox
Win. Pearson
Mich. Hanley
Robt. Fourniss
Thos. Slack
Total
Mr. Sylvester’s tenants
Jno. Laughton
Jos. White
Jo. Newton
Wid. Ax
Wid. Tyas
Total
Freeholders
Mr. Charles Saville
Glebe
Mr. Sam Saville
Mr. Barnsley
Peter Maud
Mr. Slack
Jon. Cox
Total
Total
Wood Field
Middle Field
Low Field
Rakes Field
North Ings
Low Ings
A.
R.
P.
A.
R.
P.
A.
R.
P.
A.
R.
P.
A.
R.
P.
A.
R.
P.
27
0
37
29
3
3i
17
1
34
0
3
2
8
2
21
11
0
10
16
3
37
16
0
10
4
2
33
5
1
30
3
2
36
5
2
29
13
0
13
15
0
27
11
0
3i
0
2
20
3
1
12
5
3
3
10
3
27
10
1
8
6
0
13
2
0
5
1
0
23
4
1
17
6
1
20
8
3
13
8
1
29
0
2
26
1
0
18
3
3
26
4
0
34
4
2
0
0
2
35
2
3
35
1
0
4
1
3
28
2
2
13
3
0
1 1
1
2
15
—
—
0
1
21
5
2
0
4
2
24
2
3
30
1
0
13
2
0
22
5
1
10
1
0
3
1
2
27
0
2
25
0
1
17
0
1
22
0
1
13
1
0
0
1
2
5
1
1
9
—
—
1
1
27
0
3
13
0
0
36
0
3
3i
—
0
2
5
0
3
38
—
0
2
20
0
3
6
90
1
0
96
3
30
56
0
3
14
2
14
21
1
38
40
3
30
3i
0
21
29
0
11
20
3
4
1
1
20
7
1
39
14
1
22
25
3
21
22
2
20
9
1
26
2
1
19
5
1
25
8
3
0
23
1
15
18
2
17
9
3
22
4
0
32
5
1
37
6
0
7
13
3
32
13
0
24
4
3
3i
2
3
16
2
3
19
4
0
28
26
1
20
23
0
10
12
1
2
2
3
38
5
3
24
8
3
22
120
2
29
106
2
2
57
1
5
13
3
5
27
0
24
42
0
39
26
1
25
21
0
23
13
2
10
2
1
18
5
2
25
8
3
27
10
0
16
8
2
18
4
2
27
1
0
0
1
1
33
3
1
17
8
1
22
8
2
37
3
3
23
1
2
12
2
3
34
3
2
29
4
2
33
5
3
27
4
0
7
1
0
6
1
3
5
2
0
36
0
3
39
0
2
20
0
2
33
0
1
0
0
2
16
1
3
28
2
1
24
0
2
5
0
0
19
0
3
9
0
3
5
0
2
2
54
2
19
48
2
13
27
3
14
6
2
4
11
0
37
18
1
14
265
2
08
252
0
05
141
0
22
34
3
23
59
3
19
IOI
2
03
(Source: S.C.L., Sp. St. 60702 (2))
holdings, as well as the freehold estates, are regularly distributed, not strictly in terms of an
equal number of acres in each field, but in proportion to the varying sizes of the fields.
In common with other settlements in this part of the valley the size and regularity of the
field arrangement at Mexborough is partly a function of the availability of an extensive
area of suitable land. Figure 5 illustrates how the arable fields occupied the land between
30 S.C.L., Sp.St. 60215. ~
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE DEARNE VALLEY
119
the 150 and 50 ft. (45 and 15 m) contours with the individual parcels or lands tending to
run down slope. The long, gentle slopes of the north part of Middle Field, for example were
occupied by long curving ‘lands’ which had their northern ends abutting against the North
Ings which occupied the land below 50 ft. (15 m) along the Dearne.
Because of its location between the Don and Dearne and the availability of a large acreage
of land suitable either for common arable or common meadow, a much smaller proportion
of Mexborough’s area was available as common patsure and waste than is usual for t e
coal-measures region of South Yorkshire. There was a little over 100 acres of common
pasture and waste in two areas - Dolcliffe Common in the extreme west of the township
and an area of pasture along the Dearne (Fig. 5). Thus, by the mid-seventeenth century
and probably earlier, pressures were growing to convert common arable to enclosed
pasture. The major proprietors, two of whom held together two-thirds of the land m the
mid-eighteenth century, were pressing for the right of their tenants to enclose whilst t e
laro-er freehold farmers were resisting this on the grounds of encroachment of common
arable pasture rights.32 No agreement appears ever to have been reached to petition for a
private act to enclose; so piecemeal enclosure of common field continued to occur, despite
opposition, throughout the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth. By 1839 much of
the field land had been enclosed and so was created the classical piecemeal enclosure
landscape of fossilized open-field strips33 or ‘champs Lanieres’ (see Fig. 4).
The examples of Bolton and Mexborough illustrate how settlements located in
physically similar areas, whilst having similar field systems, can have a completely different
enclosure history. Whereas the form a field system takes must be influenced to a large extent
31 Enclosed by Parliamentary award in 1859 (Clerk of the Peace, Records Department, Wakefield A 45).
32 S.C.L., Sp.St. 60215.
33 Eyre, S. R., he. cit. in ref. 1 p. 1.
120
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
by physical factors of soil and relief, the process of enclosure was often determined by local
human factors such as the pattern of landownership and tenure. Thus, in Mexborough the
opposition to enclosure by one or two of the freehold farmers appears to have contributed
to the attenuated enclosure movement of that township. Conversely Mexborough illustrates
clearly that those physical factors which did most to promote the growth of a
mature common field system, i.e. a plentiful supply of suitable land, may later cause its
decline as a shortage of pasture develops.
•u ^Jolning Mexborough on the west, the manor and township of Adwick-upon-Dearne
illustrates a further variation in the later enclosure history of a three field settlement. In
1737 the township had three distinct parts - the three common fields to the west of the
village located on gently-sloping land between the 150 and 75 ft. (45 and 23 m) contours,
ancient enclosures on the highest land over 150 ft. (45 m) in the south east of the township i
and enclosed meadows and pastures on the Dearne flood plain in the north and north east
(Fig. 6). The village itself was again sited immediately above the flood plain, the commons
and pasture below it, the arable lands above.
Fig. 6. Adwick upon Dearne, 1737.
By 1737 Adwick was two-thirds enclosed, reflecting an earlier and perhaps recent
enclosure of the common in the north east of the township,34 and the existence of a
substantial area of ancient Enclosure’ beyond the common-field area in the south of the
township. The 1737 estate plan35 indicates little encroachment on the periphery of the three
fields, suggesting that their area in 1737 represents their maximum extent. So 32 per cent
of Adwick s area was common field, compared with 38 per cent of Bolton, 35 per cent at
Wath, 45 per cent at Barnburgh-cum-Harhngton and 68 per cent at Mexborough.
34 As evidenced by the regularity of the enclosures in this part of the township and the field name ‘Adwick
Common on the modern 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map (SE 475021).
35 N.U.D.M., Ma.M6, on which fig. 6 is based.
121
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE DEARNE VALLEY
Progressing upstream the size of the common-field area declines as does the availability of
suitable land for arable. ^ , c r n
Whilst exhibiting regular features in terms of the size and number of common fields
Ad wick was not an authentic common-field settlement, for by 1737 its fields had been
‘flatted’ and tenants held their common-field land in compact blocks of flats rather than
in scattered parcels.36 Nevertheless the fields were still divided into lands , and individual
flats, although held in severalty, were still described as containing so many lands Despite
the fact that field land, on average, made up only one third of any holding tenants held their
field land with a rough equality of distribution amongst the three fields as late as 1803
(Table 3). Such a pattern of distribution, uncommon even in mature common-held
settlements at this date, probably resulted from a redistribution of land amongst the tenants
Table 3
Some tenant holdings at Adwick-upon-Dearne in 1803 (Ma.S.181)
Tenant
Enclosed
Field Next
Wath
(Total 123 acres)
Stickinghill
Field
(133 acres)
Field Next
Town
(109 acres)
A
83 Acres
15 Acres
(in one parcel)
1 5 Acres
(in two parcels)
21 Acres
(in three parcels)
B
39 Acres
5 Acres
(in two parcels)
13 Acres
(tin two parcles)
5 Acres
(in two parcels)
C
93 Acres
13 Acres
(3 parcels)
15 Acres
(1 parcel)
13 Acres
(1 parcel)
D
90 Acres
19^ Acres
(3 parcels)
28 Acres
(3 parcels)
19^ Acres
(2 parcels)
by the only proprietor, the lord of the manor. The field arrangement at this date is therefore
a result of a landownership pattern consisting of one proprietor who has effected an
‘enclosure’ by a redistribution of land amongst his tenants. Presumably after the flatting
had occurred tenants were allowed to crop their flats independently although there is no
direct evidence for this until 1789.37 Eighteenth-century field books confirm the continued
existence of the fields in their flatted form implying the operation of a system of common
pasturing on the arable but providing no evidence of it. Such a practice would delay any
final enclosure, although perhaps whilst the flats continued to be cultivated there was no
need to permanently enclose them, and a system of temporary fences would be sufficient
when animals were pastured on the flats. By the early nineteenth century, however, many
of the flats were described as pasture, and permanent enclosure had occurred.38
Adjoining Adwick on the west the township of Wath-upon-Dearne is another lower
Dearne valley township whose common-field arrangement could be described as
regular (Fig. 7). Wath again illustrates the close relationship between land-use and relief
found in the valley. Below the village, itself located just above the flood plain, were the
ings, pastures, moors, and commons on the alluvial soils of the flood plain. South of the
village was the main common-arable area divided into three common fields which, until
their enclosure in 1814, had been only marginally affected by piecemeal enclosure.39
36 N.U.D.M., Ma.S 177.
37 N.U.D.M., Ma.S. 179.
38 N.U.D.M., Ma.S. 183. ,
33 The three fields were Schoolhouse Field (107 acres), Sandygate Field (125 acres) and Far Field (118 acres)
(Parliamentary enclosure award, W.R.R.D., B30, p. 206. Original award and plan at Council Offices Wath
U D C ) For the extent of pre-parliamentary consolidation and enclosure see S.C.L., Fairbank collection
Wath iL and M.B. 560. Fig. 7 (Wath in 1814) is based on the Parliamentary Enclosure Plan.
122
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
The third large area of common land was Wath Wood, located in the extreme south of the
township above the common fields. The enclosed land, around one-third of Wath’s area
consisted largely of the village crofts, parts of Wath Wood, scattered enclosures of former
common held and common meadow, and an extensive area of enclosed pasture along the
Dearnc. This latter area was former common pasture enclosed by agreement in the early
seventeenth century/" at which time Wath would have had a field arrangement similar
to those of Bolton and Mexborough in the eighteenth century.
Just as flatting at Adwick and piecemeal enclosure at Mexborough tended to ensure the
survival of at least some vestiges of common-field agriculture into the nineteenth century41
so the improving spirit of the Marquis of Rockingham of Wentworth Woodhouse in the
eighteenth century supported the late survival of common field at Wath. It was his influence,
or example, which in the eighteenth century led Mr Payne of Frickley, a substantial
ree older in Wath, to introduce new methods of husbandry there so that a writer in
1793 could say that, ‘I know of no township in this Riding, except that of Wath-upon-
Dearne, where turnips are cultivated in any degree of perfection in open fields. At that
place, they have long been wisely unanimous on the management of their common
fields and in selling the whole turnip crop by valuation, to a person engaging to stock them
entirely with sheep on the land’.4* The Marquis of Rockingham and his successors held one
40 S.C.L., W.W.M.D. 1759.
41 There is support for M. A. Havinden’s view who, from his study of Oxfordshire, suggested that \ . . piecemeal
nni°Sf fl A f m0derwT°Tn te?d^ Tt0 easf the fhortage of pasture, and so strengthened, rather than weakened,
Oxf ^ farming (Unpub. B.Litt. thesis, ‘The Rural Economy of Oxfordshire 1580-1730’, University of
42 Rennie, Brown and Sheriff, ‘General View of the Agriculture of the West Riding of Yorkshire’ (1793), p. 133.
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE DEARNE VALLEY
123
third of the land in Wath as well as being lords of the manor of Wath, whilst a further
half of the township’s area was in the hands of six substantial freeholders, and the remaining
land was held by 23 lesser freeholders.43 As a result of this arrangement the Marquis was,
through his tenants and his example at Wentworth, able to have a positive influence on
improvement.
In each of the Dearne valley townships so far considered in any detail there have been
fairly consistent factors both in the physical features and the field system form. Each village
has served an area of between 1,200 and 1,500 acres. In each case a large proportion
(over 50 per cent) was open or had recently been open, and in each case the commons,
common fields and ings represented the major land use in the settlement s area.
This group of settlements, more than any others in the whole coal-measures region of
South Yorkshire at this date, are closer to the Midland field system arrangements first
described by H. L. Gray.44 For similar regular three-field arrangements at this period in the
West Riding it is necessary to turn to a line of townships located on the dip slope of the
magnesian limestone from Tadcaster in the north down to Wadworth in the south, where
distinctive field arrangements, as in the Dearne valley, can be related to geology and
relief. Of course it is possible in the coal-measures region to pick out isolated examples of
survival of three-field arrangements, but, except for the Dearne valley, not in a number of
contiguous townships.
In this part of the Dearne valley near its confluence with the Don conditions were more
suitable than elsewhere in the coal measures for the development of regular common-field
arrangements. Yet even these field arrangements cannot be compared with those found,
for example in the classical common-field areas of Oxfordshire where for 89 townships,
representing 29 per cent of the county’s area, common field and common meadow formed
together over 75 per cent of the townships’ area.45 Only Mexborough in South Yorkshire
has a comparable proportion, and elsewhere in the whole of the West Riding, only the Vale
of York settlements of Upper Dunsforth (63 per cent),46 Minskip (50 per cent),47 Little
Ouseburn (54 per cent),48 and Hensall (57 per cent)49 had over half of their areas in common
field and meadow at the time of their enclosure by parliamentary award.
Ill
Irregular common field and enclosed upstream townships
In comparison to the downstream townships, those in the Dearne valley between
Barnsley and Brampton Bierlow all had substantial areas of enclosed land by the early
eighteenth century and only Brampton Bierlow had over a tenth of its area in common
field and common meadow (Table 1). One reason for this basic difference in the field
arrangements of the two groups of townships was the physical make-up of the upper
Dearne group which, with the exception of Billingley and Little Houghton, contained
greater areas above 200 ft. (61 m) than their lower Dearne counterparts, indeed heights
of over 400 ft. (121 m) are reached on the coal-measures sandstones in Ardsley, Wombwell
and Brampton Bierlow.
43 S.C.L., M.B. 506 (Fairbank survey of 1775).
44 Gray, H. L., English Field Systems (Harvard 1915).
45 Gray, H. L., op. cit., Appendix IV, pp. 536-542. For more recent studies in Midland counties see, Yelling, J. A.,
‘Open field, Enclosure, and Farm production in East Worcestershire’ (unpub. Ph.D. thesis, Birmingham, 1966)
and Martin, J. M., ‘The Parliamentary Enclosure Movement and Rural Society in Warwickshire’, Agricultural
History Review, xv (1967), pp. 19-39.
46 W.R.R.D., Bn, p. 79.
47 W.R.R.D., B45, p. 134.
48 W.R.R.D., Roll 10.
49 W.R.R.D., B39, p. 1.
124
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Brampton Bierlow is the best-documented of the upstream townships and provides an
interesting case study because in the eighteenth century within its area were field-system
and settlement patterns characteristic of both upland (Pennine) and lowland West Riding.
So here is a township within four miles of Mexborough, the prime example of a regular
three-field settlement in South Yorkshire, in which are found features of upland Yorkshire.
At the time of its Parliamentary enclosure in 1820, 83 per cent of Brampton’s area was
already enclosed.60 Of the 537 acres enclosed by the award 507 were common field located
around the village of Brampton and found in three main groups of fields - Winterwell
Field (130 acres), West Field (153 acres), and Lower and Upper Cliff Fields (83 acres) (Fig.
common field
O
lml
lkm
Fig. 8. Brampton Bierlow, 1820.
50 W.R.R.D., B34, p. 264 and B35, p. 157.
51 Based on S.C.L., Wath 4L.
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE DEARNE VALLEY
125
8). 51 South of the village and its fields, which lay at the northern extremity of the township
nearest to the Dearne, were the enclosed pastures, Park, and woodland, in an area which
rises to a maximum height of 518 ft. (158 m) at Hoober Stand.
The interest of Brampton is that in addition to the main settlement with its clear three-
field arrangement52 there existed at least four other hamlets in the township with their
own common fields. Close to the main settlement on the east and south east lay Melton
(with Little Edge Field) and Newhill (School Field, Braithwaite Field, and Hotheroyd
Field), whilst in the south lay Hoober53 and probably also Abdy,54 each with their own
common fields and in Hoober’s case with a common. By 1776 however, very few holdings
were restricted to one part of the township and, whilst the occasional farm had land only at
Newhill or at Hoober, the majority had their land scattered throughout the whole town-
ship.55 It is probable, however, that in the past each settlement would have had an
independent field system. This was certainly the case at Hoober in the early eighteenth
century.
An analysis of the 94 farm holdings in 1776 5 6 showed that 46 were fully enclosed although
24 of these were under five acres, consisting of little more than a messuage and associated
crofts. Only 11 holdings had no enclosed land other than that found around the messuage.
The largest farms were those that contained both open and enclosed land, and on the holdings
that contained common-field land there was no regularity of its distribution amongst the
fields. Clearly as most farms consisted of considerable acreages of enclosed land there
was no necessity for an equal distribution of common field acres. Furthermore there is no
evidence to confirm the existence of regular common field rotations on a whole field basis
at this date.
Whilst, therefore, the field system of Brampton Bicrlow in 1776 would appear to be an
irregular one in terms of the size and significence of the common fields and the distribution
of holdings within them, the three largest fields associated with the village of Brampton
largely retained their identity up to final enclosure in 1820. Whilst William Fairbank s plan
and survey of 1 776s 7 points to a certain amount of consolidation and enclosure of common
field parcels,58 with occasional closes of three, four, or five acres taken out of the fields,
an analysis of common field parcels shows still a considerable degree of fragmentation. Thus,
if one assumes an original situation in early medieval times of one hand’ in each parcel, the
number of lands in each parcel in 1776 will give some measure of the degree of consolidation
over the preceding centuries. So in Winterwell Field, sub-divided into 298 individual
lands, there was still a total of 201 parcels, representing only a small amount of consolidation
into multi-land parcels. In a situation where complete fragmentation exists and where
there has been no consolidation of contiguous lands there would be the same number of
lands as parcels, so giving a ‘fragmentation index’ of i-o.59 Using this calculation an index
of 0A7 is arrived at for Wmterwell Field whilst the greater degree of consolidation in Wbst
Field gives an index of 0-38. Such an index, whilst being an imperfect guide, makes it
52 Late seventeenth-century evidence describes a three-course rotation (S.C.L., W.W.M.-C2-85).
53 Hoober had two fields, North and South Fields, in 1775 (S.C.L., M.B. 51 1 and Wath 4L) which appear to have
been enclosed before 1820. In addition it had a common of over 200 acres enclosed by private agreement in
1714 (S.C.L., N.B.C. p. 399 and p. 401).
54 See S.C.L., Wath 4L, an estate plan of 1755 which shows common field in this area, to confirm the
evidence of ridge and furrow which can be seen in the area today.
55 S.C.L., M.B. 511.
56 That is tenant farms of the Marquis of Rockingham who owned two-thirds of the land, and freehold farms
(S.C.L., MB 511).
57 S.C.L., Wath 4L and MB 511.
58 Consolidation as in this sequence of parcels in part of West Field; 5 lands, balk, 2 lands, 5 lands, balk, 2 lands,
6 lands, balk, 5 lands. For documentation of this process of consolidation see S.C.L., N.B.C. p. 227.
59 Parcels
Lands
= fragmentation index.
126
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
possible to compare the degree of consolidation between townships as well as in the same
township. In Wath it is possible to show that the greatest degree of consolidation occurred
nearest the town and that the first partial enclosure of common field land occurred in
those parcels butting on the town crofts.
In Brampton, although consolidation and some enclosure had gone on within the
common-field area the 1776 plan seems to indicate that the external boundaries of the
common fields are ancient and that the area within these boundaries in 1776 represents the
maximum extent of common-field agriculture in Brampton.60 The remaining 2,500 acres
of the township, apart from the small common fields around the hamlets, must then
represent former common61 or directly enclosed assart, following woodland clearing.
Brampton Bierlow is more typical of eighteenth-century common-field townships in
the coal measures than are either Mexborough or Bolton, which had extensive, and, until
enclosure occurred or began in the eighteenth century, largely untouched common-field
areas. More usual were those settlements with small irregular common-field areas
surrounded and broken up by much more extensive enclosed lands some of which are the
result of earlier piecemeal enclosure.62
Upstream from Brampton the adjoining township of Wombwell, which had a regular
three field arrangement 111 the sixteenth century,63 had no common fields remaining by the
eighteenth century, whilst Darfield was probably fully enclosed by this time.64 Ardsley
had three small common fields enclosed by private agreement in the late eighteenth
century65 and Cudworth had its remaining common field, Upper Town Field, enclosed
by parliamentary award in 1812, at the end of several centuries of piecemeal enclosure.66
To the south of Cudworth, Little Houghton appears to have been fully enclosed by this
period and Billingley was in the last stages of enclosure a century earlier.67
IV
The Dearne valley townships illustrate for a small area what is true for the whole of the
West Riding, that for the eighteenth century and in fact before, the significance of common-
field agriculture decreases from east to west. Where river valleys occur common-field
agriculture tended to penetrate further west, making use of suitable land along the
valleys. This was the case along the Calder and its tributaries where, from Castleford in the
east to Elland and Holme in the heart of the Pennines, a series of settlements such as Norman-
ton, Wakefield, Horbury, Ossett, Mirfield, Elland, and Holme, in contrast to many of
their neighbours away from the valley floors, had common field surviving into the
eighteenth century.68 A similar pattern could also be seen in the Upper Don valley
between Sheffield and Penistone where again a number of settlements had small common-
field areas surviving into the eighteenth century. Along the Dearne valley can be seen
common-field arrangements in varying stages of decay, and townships varying from the
almost completely open to the fully enclosed. Two factors have contributed to these
60 The evidence tor this is of two types: (a) The external boundaries of the common field area are either irregular
or bound by natural teatures. (b) The plan suggests little evidence of piecemeal enclosures (i.e. strip-shaped
enclosures) outside the common field area. There is just one area of such enclosures to the south of West Field.
61 Hoober Common, totalling 226 acres, was enclosed by private agreement in 1714 (S.C.L., N.B.C. 399).
62 As, for example at Swinton with, in 1820, 15 common fields totalling 330 acres, and old enclosures totalling
820 acres (W.R.R.D. B35, p. 157). &
Yorkshire Archaeological Society , Record series, xcii, p. 204-9.
With the exception of a small area along the river (S.C.L., N.B.C. 409).
65 S.C.L., Ph.C. p. 357.
66 Enclosure award, W.R.R.D., B29, p. 165.
67 S.C.L., W.W/Br 182.
68 ^ee parliamentary awards listed in National Register of Archives (West Riding, north part), Handlist of West
Riding Enclosure Awards (Leeds 1965).
63
64
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE DEARNE VALLEY
127
contrasts : firstly, an initially smaller proportion of the upstream townships’ area was given
over to common arable, a result, particularly in Brampton and Wombwell, of larger
areas of more irregular relief more unsuitable for arable farming; and, secondly pre-
eighteenth century enclosure of common field in the upstream settlements. This situation
reflects that in the coal measures as a whole, the largest common-field areas were found
in the eastern margins of the region close to the magnesian limestone scarp. Moving west,
common-field areas become smaller and more irregular and there is greater evidence of
earlier enclosure. So Mexborough, Barnburgh, Harlington, Adwick, Bolton and Wath
are representative of the common-field settlements to be found in the easterly coal
measures in the eighteenth century except that these settlements in the lower Dearne valley
had substantially larger areas of common land than was usual for the area, and that their
field arrangements had remained less affected by pre-parliamentary enclosure than had
some neighbouring settlements. One important factor in preserving common-field agri-
culture in this part of the valley must have been the improving influence of the Marquis of
Rockingham and his successors for, in each of the townships in which they were the
major proprietors - Wath, Brampton and Barnburgh-cum-Harlington, parliamentary
enclosure occurred relatively late.69 Of the other places, Bolton was enclosed at an early
date by parliamentary award, in Adwick the process of flatting tended to preserve a form
of common-field agriculture into the late eighteenth century, and at Mexborough common-
field agriculture persisted presumably as a result of a lack of agreement to enclose.
Moving upstream, Brampton is representative of the majority of coal-measures townships
at this time where, whilst common fields existed, they were not the major form of land use
and most farms consisted of far greater areas of enclosed land than common field. Unlike
such townships however, Brampton’s common fields had remained relatively intact and,
quite unusually, retained their identity into the nineteenth century in a township in which
they had never been the major form of land use. In this sense the field arrangement at
Brampton represents an intermediate stage between the common-field settlements of
lowland Yorkshire and Pennine settlements whose common fields or ‘town fields’ had
historically occupied only a small area around the settlement itself. Similarly at
Wombwell, Darfield, Ardsley, Cudworth and, just outside the study area at Barnsley,70
Worsborough,71 Wentworth,72 and Nether Hoyland,73 it is unlikely that the common
fields were ever the major form of land use.
The contrasts in field-system form in the Dearne valley can be attributed in the main
to physical factors. The settlements below Brampton all developed considerable common
field areas whereas above Brampton in areas more suited to pastoral farming, the
common-field areas were smaller and tended to be affected by enclosure from an earlier
date. In the lower group of settlements similarity of field-system form only became
disturbed with the development of enclosure in the eighteenth century, a development
whose diverse forms owed as much to human factors of landownership and personalities
as it did to physical factors.
69 The dates of the acts were, Wath (1810), Brampton (1815), and Barnburgh (1819).
70 Four common fields totalling 300 acres, commons of 500 acres, and old enclosures totalling 3,200 acres in 1779
(W.R.R.D. B13).
71 With three small common fields enclosed piecemeal in the seventeenth century (S.C.L., W.M. pp. 309-23).
72 With probably under 200 acres of common field land in a township of 2,400 acres (S.C.L., M.P. 48, MP 49,
and Wath 32L).
73 With several common fields totalling 100 acres, commons of 330 acres, and old enclosures totalling nearly
1,600 acres (W.R.R.D. B20, p. 66) in 1799.
128
THE BIRSTALL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY
By Lilian L. Shiman
Summary The growth of the Temperance Society in Birstall from 1832 until the present day is examined against
the local social background. The society’s development from a reform group to a sect and finally to an independent
church is illustrated from its records and from the recollections of members.
Many nineteenth-century temperance writers liked to go back to Saxon times to show
how long was the Englishman’s bibulous heritage. The Saxons loved their ale, and their
drinking customs were an integral part of their social life. But the problems of
drunkenness that concerned the temperance movement belonged to the new industrial
society and thus we need go back into English history no further than the nineteenth
century.
There was a great deal of drinking in eighteenth-century England, the great era for gin,
but no temperance movement came into being to fight it. Many individuals were horrified
at the amount of drunkenness, especially among the lower classes - Hogarth’s drawings
can be seen as an indictment of the drinking habits of his age - but no movement or
organization arose to counter the evil. Drinking was firmly fixed in traditional social
and cultural practises in England. ‘To be as drunk as a lord’ was a common English
expression. During the nineteenth century, because of the economic changes, drinking
was seen in a different context. The ‘work discipline’ framework, brought into being by
industrialization, transformed drunkenness from a personal state of excess sociability into
an anti-social vice. It caused absenteeism and instability among the working classes and
thus affected the efficiency of the workers.
E. P. Thompson has shown in his book The Making of the English Working Class the
role Methodism played in moulding the workers to the strict work discipline that the new
factories demanded. Temperance it can be said, supplemented the work of the Methodists
in this direction. But it did more than help create an efficient working class - it played an
important role in organizing the social lives of many workers. Much of the success of
the nineteenth-century temperance movement must be attributed to the supportive frame
of reference it gave to many people who had been uprooted psychologically as well as
physically from their traditional modes of behaviour. Life in the new manufacturing centres
was very difficult and there were few agencies to help the immigrant worker adjust to his
new situation. Men individually were held responsible for success or failure in their
economic and social lives; the self-made man was the hero of the age. However, not all men
could carry such a load alone, and they had to seek ways of forming and maintaining
associations that would give the individuals support. Particularly in the new industrial
areas, where there was an inability on the part of the religious and secular establishments
to provide leadership in the development of stable communities, did such voluntary
associations proliferate. Some were only temporary phenomena but a considerable number
lasted for many decades.
The temperance movement in England started in the late 1820’s as a middle-class
reform movement, with a moderation pledge that proscribed only the drinking of
spirits.1 Beer and wine could be drunk in moderation. Within a few years, however, many
of the reformers were dissatisfied with their progress. For from stemming the tide of
drunkenness, the temperance reformers inadvertently helped it increase. Believing the
1 See Harrison, Brian, Drink and the Victorians (Faber Press, London 1791) for a full treatment of the anti-drink)
movement in the pre-1972 years.
THE BIRSTALL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY
129
consumption of beer was far safer than spirits, they had given their support to the Beer Act
of 1830, which licensed unlimited beer shops. The results of this act were disastrous. Beer
drinking rose and so did intemperance. To fight this new situation the teetotal pledge was
introduced. Born in Tancashire among working-class reformers, the teetotal pledge quickly
swept away its moderation predecessor and from 1840 on very few temperance societies
allowed the moderation pledge.2 Under the influence of dedicated teetotallers, the
temperance reformation then became an important vehicle for fulfilling the social and
eventually the religious needs of its members.
It would be a mistake to try to understand the English temperance movement through
national developments. Although there were several national organizations functioning
successfully, they did not exercise much power or influence among the temperance rank
and file. The real strength of the movement lay not in the membership rolls of the national
groups, but rather in the small local societies that carried on the spirit of temperance in
their own communities. It is for that reason that we here focus on one relatively small
temperance association, the Birstall Temperance Society. This organization was never a
prominent part of the temperance world; it had no claim to fame among teetotallers,
nor did it produce any notable temperance leaders or receive more than passing mention
in any national temperance history. But by examining the Birstall reformers we come to
understand other similar groups and see how numerous temperance societies evolved into
independent, locally-oriented, teetotal sects. Not all societies followed exactly the same
path, but the Birstall pattern was a common one, and there was more similarity than
difference in the development of the majority of town and village temperance societies.
★ ★ ★
Birstall is an ancient parish with a famous church that dates back to the twelfth century.
It is also the name of a village within that district. While the old records emphasize the
parish area, it being one of the largest m Yorkshire, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
saw it disintegrate into separate parishes, towns and villages. Like many other communities
in the West Riding of Yorkshire, there was very little continuity between the ways of the
past and those of the present. Industry came to the region and brought with it new
customs, allegiances and values, as well as a new population whose traditions did not belong
to the old parish.
For centuries Birstall had been a sparsely populated farm area whose inhabitants had
tilled rather unproductive land to eke out a low level subsistence. A large proportion of
the poorer inhabitants required constant help from the parish officials. Wnh the
coming of industrialization the economic base of the village changed. Because of the
abundant streams that could supply water power, this section of the West Riding became
covered with a large number of textile factories. They produced mostly blankets and rugs,
causing the area to become known as the Heavy Woollen District. This change from a
basically agrarian economy to an industrial one was accompanied by a rapid population
growth. The population of the parish went from 9,000 in 1784 to 17,639 in 1811. By 1901
there were over 67,000 persons residing within the old parish boundaries, 6,559 in the
village of Birstall. The greatest increase occurred in the years 185 1-8 1.4
With this increase in population came the many problems that plagued other parts of the
manufacturing districts. Birstall became a centre for the ten-hour agitation, the anti-poor
2 Later this moderation pledge was revived by the Church of England Temperance Society. For further
information about this temperance organization see the author’s The Church of England Temperance Society
in the Nineteenth Century’, The Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, xli, no. 2, June 1972.
3 Cradock, H. C., A History of the Ancient Parish of Birstall, Yorkshire (1933), P- H4-
4 Ibid., p. 89.
130
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
law movement, the plug riots and the Chartists.5 The last named were responsible for
a great deal of violent talk in the neighbourhood, and guns and other weapons were
distributed among their supporters.6 After the 1840’s, however, there appears to have been
a lessening of tensions, and the second half of the nineteenth century was a time of new
community developments, with chapels and public houses, those two antithetical
institutions, competing for the allegiance and time of the local working men and their
families.
The Birstall Temperance Society 1832-72
The temperance cause was introduced into the village of Birstall in 1832 by two well-
known Leeds temperance advocates, John Andrews and William Pallister. Both men were
teetotallers and officers of the Leeds Temperance Society. They spent a great deal of their
time travelling around Yorkshire and Lancashire, lecturing and organizing teetotal
societies.7
Fortunately for these first temperance advocates, in Birstall they quickly got the support
of the local schoolmaster who allowed the newly formed Birstall Temperance Society
to hold its meetings in his schoolrooms. The local doctor was also a strong supporter of the
temperance society and he became its first President.8 He was the son of the founder of
the Batley Temperance Society. This important middle-class support was offset somewhat
by the coolness that emanated towards the movement from the local parish church. The
vicar was the son of a prominent local maltster and, if only for family reasons, could not
support the teetotal society in Birstall.9 He was vicar from 1801 to 1836 and after him his
son held the living until 1875. The relationship between the parish church and the
temperance society did not improve with the grandson of a maltster as incumbent.
In 1843 the Birstall Temperance Society held its first public procession at Easter. It wound
its way from a neighbouring village to the centre of Birstall, proclaiming and bringing to
the attention of the onlookers the presence and vitality of the temperance reformation in
their community. This procession was thought to be such a great success that it became an
annual event. Four years later, in 1847, the Birstall Temperance Society sponsored
another annual event — this time a festival. Here the whole day was devoted to a mixture
of amusements and temperance teachings.
The following year a branch of the juvenile temperance association, the Band of Hope,
was set up as part of the Birstall Temperance Society. This organisation sponsored a
mixture of educational and recreational activities designed specially for children. The
weekly gatherings were often supplemented by other meetings, which called for work on
special projects such as choir rehearsals. Recognizing the value of music in working with
children, the Bank of Hope placed great importance on choirs and orchestras, and
encouraged concerts of religious and temperance hymns.10
In the summer time, or when the weather was good, the Birstall Temperance Society
held outdoor meetings in central locations m the village and surrounding areas. These
public gatherings were important in publicizing the movement among the nontemperance
population. Occasionally they had to be adjourned because of persistent rowdiness by
5 Gill, J. C., The Ten Hours Parson (1959), p- H3- Peel, Frank, Spen Valley ( Past and Present, Heckmondwyke,
1893), p.311.
6 Peel, p. 3 11.
7 Pallister, William, ‘Some Reminiscences of a Pioneer’, articles in The British Temperance Advocate, March 1 88s-
October 1885.
A History of the Birstall Temperance Society unpublished short paper by Alderman Stone for the author.
9 Cradock, pp. 268-9.
10 The Band of Hope also organized many festivals, all over England. Mixing parochial patriotism with temperance
principles, Band of Hope activities found much favour among the local nontemperance public as well as
among their own teetotallers. Unlike adult teetotalism, total abstinence for children was not a controversial
issue. All agreed that children should not drink intoxicating beverages. See the author’s ‘The Band of Hope
Movement. Respectable Recreation for Working-Class Children’, Victorian Studies, Sept. 1973.
THE BIRSTALL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY
13 I
hecklers in the audience,11 but generally the Birstall teetotallers did not meet niucli
opposition from the local citizens. The strong chapel affiliation of a large proportion of the
village inhabitants made them view, if not with favour, then at least without open
hostility, the work of the local branch of the temperance reformation.
In 1867 a branch of the temperance friendly society, the Independent Order of the
Rechabites, was started at Birstall. Named for a family of water-drinkers mentioned in the
Bible (Jeremiah 35), the Rechabites had originally been founded in 1830 as a teetotal
alternative to the regular friendly societies that had many drink-related customs.
All members had to sign the teetotal pledge. If they broke it they were expelled and only
readmitted to the society on signing the pledge again and giving evidence of adhering to it.
The Rechabites, whose branches were called ‘tents’ provided sickness and burial insurance
to any teetotaller enrolled on its books. Men, women and children were all eligible -
it was a family affair, but only men attended the weekly meetings which were
a mixture of business and fellowship, The branch at Birstall was called the Star o
Birstall’ tent and by the end of its first decade had a membership of 59 men, four wives and
ten juveniles. By this time it also had a quarterly income of between three and four pounds,
a slow but steady start.13 • • • u
In common with many other temperance societies, the Birstall organization in the
years 1832 to 1872 functioned only sporadically. The zeal of new members, brought into
the movement by waves of temperance enthusiasm that periodically swept the country,
was often short lived. The Society was refounded and revived a number of times after
periods of dormancy.14 Sometimes the revival was caused by enthusiasm generated by
such famous temperance orators as John B. Gough in the late 1850 s, and sometimes the
impetus was provided by newly arrived teetotal families who wanted an active society.
In this period, while the temperance movement was acquiring the ingredients for its
future counterculture, it was still as yet a movement focused on one issue - drinking. But
the temperance movement had to change its focus and activities as the world around it
changed; the temperance reformation of the 1840 s was different from the movement of
the 1880’s. Whereas the pressing need of the 1840’s was to help its members deal with
immediate obstacles to economic and social survival - drink, for example - by the later
period the emphasis was on creating a comprehensive alternative to the dominant
culture in which drink was so central.
Modification in the goals and work of the temperance movement was also the result ot
changes in the type of individual attracted to it. When teetotalism was first introduced,
a large number of its supporters were either victims of their own intemperance or that of
some close family member. By the end of the century the situation had changed. The
majority of teetotallers identified with the movement had never been drunkards nor had
they ever been threatened by the intemperance of others. There was little danger of them
or their families succumbing to the curse of drunkenness ; they had never tasted any alcoholic
beverage in their lives, except perhaps at Holy Communion.15 The early teetotal movement
11 Newspaper clipping in Alderman Stone s scrapbook, no name, no date.
12 Friendly societies generally met in public houses where they paid ‘wet rent . This meant that a certain amount
of drink had to be bought in return for the use of the meeting room. The money for this drink usually came from
the funds of the society. According to a government report the greatest cause of insolvency among friendly
societies in East Lancashire was the amount spent on drink, Gosden, P. H. J. H„ The Friendly Societies in England
1815-1875 (Manchester, 1961), p. 117.
13 Rechabite records at the Birstall Temperance Hall.
14 Many temperance societies went through cycles of great activity followed by periods of dormancy.
‘Sensationalism and sectarian bigotry’ were often said to be the cause of decline. Atkin, Fred. Reminiscences oj a
Temperance Advocate, (1899), p - 33-
15 The problem of alcoholic wine at the sacramental table was an issue hotly disputed throughout the nineteenth
century. Called ‘The Sacramental Wine Issue’, many books and pamplets were written against the use of such
alcoholic wine. So strongly was this issue agitated that the Lambeth Conference in 1888 had to reaffirm the use
of the traditional wine at the sacramental table.
132
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
had placed considerable emphasis on saving men from their thirst and had made great
heroes of reformed drunkards. In contrast, the later temperance reformers were content
to leave the saving of drunkards in other hands, such as the Salvation Army, preferring to
devote their own energies to protecting themselves and their young from the drinking
world. The work of the movement became focused on the raising of a race uncontaminated
by any alcoholic beverage, while the new heroes were men and women who had been born
and reared in the movement and had shown a lifelong fidelity to their teetotal principles.
Building a Community, 1872-90
In Birstall a local crisis triggered and accelerated many of these changes. In 1872 the
Birstall village schoolmaster resigned and moved away. The new schoolmaster was no
temperance supporter and would not allow the temperance society to use his schoolrooms.16
For the first time in four decades the Society found itself homeless, and facing the task of
finding a new meeting place. This was no easy matter; public halls were rare in Birstall,
as in most towns and villages at this time. In fact, the teetotallers found no alternative room
available. After much deliberation, the Birstall temperance community decided to build
its own hall. Such a step was not one to be taken lightly. For men of the nineteenth century
owning property was a serious matter, especially when mortgages were involved.
Starting very modestly, the Birstall teetotallers bought a plot of 840 square yards, for the
sum of £17 5’ To build their first structure they used only volunteer labour and erected a
one room hall, nine by six yards. 17 The trustees of this hall were men of humble background.
No longer were they the community leaders, the doctor or the schoolmaster - instead we
find a gardener, a merchant, an overlooker, a butcher, a warper, a draper, a clothnnller and
a joiner among the signers of the deed. One of the men could not write his name and so had
to make his mark.18
From the moment it was raised the building proved to be inadequate for the needs of the
Society. In the following year it was lengthened - from nine to 14 yards and other
improvements were made. But the Birstall Temperance Society continued to grow; as
the hall attracted more attention and activities, so did its membership increase. By 1882
it was again decided that the hall was not large enough and so another hall was built, at a
cost of ^j'8oo.19
The acquisition of this enlarged meeting place wrought great changes within the Society,
and even though there were some debts and continuing financial obligations from such
ownership, there was never a thought that the hall was anything but an important asset to
the teetotal community. The calendar of the Birstall reformers was based on events at the
hall. Every night there was some activity for part or all of the membership and the hall
soon became an important centre for the temperance movement in Birstall and district.
On Monday afternoons there was a ‘Bright Hour’ for women, on Wednesday a Band of
Hope met at 7.30 and when they finished at 8.30 the Temperance Society held its weekly
Committee meetings. In 1879 a temperance choir was formed to help at Sunday meetings
and it quickly became one of the most important activities for the teetotal community.
Sometimes the singers practised three times a week and then held concerts on Saturdays
and sang at the Sunday meetings. Birstall had few commercial recreational facilities and so
the people had to make their own entertainments. Amateur concerts where local talent
was encouraged were very popular as well as cheap to produce. Sunday was, however, the
most important day at Temperance Hall. Although most of the members at this time
19 Birstall Gospel Temperance Society, Souvenir and Brief History of the Society, Birstall. No date. Henceforth
referred to as Souvenir History.
17 Ibid.
18 A copy of the deed still held by the Society in Birstall.
19 Birstall Temperance Society Records.
THE BIRSTALL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY
133
attended their own churches and chapels in the morning, the afternoons and evenings were
devoted to temperance work. In the afternoons the men had a P.S.A.20 meeting with
elevating semi-religious talks and community hymn singing. And m the evenings a
temperance meeting for both sexes was scheduled which was open to anyone who wished
to attend. Temperance lectures and hymn singing were the main activities at these
^Alongg with these regular events the temperance community planned and looked forward
to many special gatherings throughout the year. The annual meeting of the Birsta
Temperance Society was the occasion for a great celebration lasting a whole
weekend. Central to this weekend was the business meeting when the financial report ot
the Society was read and discussed. After this meeting there was a tea to refresh the members
as well as to give them an opportunity to relax and socialize. Concerts and temperance
lectures filled the rest of the weekend.21
Also at this period we find a great increase in the intersociety activities of the temperance
groups that made up the Heavy Woollen District Temperance Union.22 Picnics choir
competitions, concerts and meetings, both business and social, were organized. Althoug
these events had important recreational value, such activities were more than moments o
pleasure. They were an integral part of the fabric that united the scattered local bands ot
reformers. They were the means for bringing teetotal families of the area together;
helping to promote family alliances through marriage, fellowship and business. Throug
these joint events the temperance reformers learned to identify fellow abstainers in the
neighbouring villages and towns, and a sense of a larger temperance community was
fostered. . .c c
Although attendance at all these functions was important, the most significant aspect ot
the reformers’ commitment to the movement was the time and care they lavished on the
preparation and organization of these activities. Working together, the Birstall teetotallers
created and sustained their own temperance community, keeping it strong by their personal
involvement in the day-to-day matters of their temperance world. However, this com-
munity still had other loyalties that sometimes conflicted with those of their temperance
society. Many of the members had retained their diverse religious affiliations which
prevented the teetotallers from giving a total commitment to their cause. But this situation
was changed with the coming of a new wave of temperance sentiment The Gospel
Temperance Movement precipitated the last step in the evolution of Birstall temperance
from a cause to a sect, and thus removed the last impediment to the formation of an
exclusively teetotal identity.
Gospel Temperance at Birstall 1890-1914
Gospel temperance was originally brought to England from America by William Noble
in 1877. It swept the country and made temperance fashionable. Stemming from an
increased social concern for the spiritual and material well-being of the lower classes, it
combined evangelical religion and temperance: the teetotal pledge became viewed as an
integral part of Christianity. Gospel temperance supporters felt that a soul could not be
20 The P.S.A. meetings were a popular development of the late nineteenth century. The initials stood for
‘Pleasant Sunday Afternoon’. The movement was started in Manchester by a Yorkshire minister and quick y
spread throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire. It was hoped that the P.S.A.’s would prove to be an association by
which ‘the moral, intellectual, social and material prosperity of the masses may be combined with the religious
(Yorkshire County Magazine, iv, p. 131)- Meetings were usually held at chapels and churches at 3 pan. on Sunday
afternoons. There, with elevating semi-religious talks, and community hymn singing, the P.S.A. tultille a
recreational need that was an important problem for the churches. Without any alternative many men spent
the Sabbath afternoon in the public houses getting drunk.
21 Interview, Miss Peel, long-time member of the Birstall Society, in 1969.
22 The Heavv Woollen District Temperance Union was made up of temperance societies from Dewsbury, Ossett,
Batley, Birstall, Heckmondwike, Morley, Cleckheaton,Wyke, Drighlington and Birkenshaw. (Alderman Stone).
134
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
saved while the body was being continually corrupted by intemperance. Many families
who were not themselves heavy drinkers signed the pledge in the late nineteenth century,
because they believed drinking to be anti-Christian.23
On the national level many of the major churches started their own temperance organiza-
tions at this time, but local branches depended on the attitude of the individual clergy and
congregations.24 More important on the local level were the numerous gospel temperance
missions that sprang up. Most were of limited duration though some were of a permanent
nature and even possessed their own halls.25 Sponsored by individuals as well as
organizations, these gospel temperance missions were to be found all over the country.
So many were there, and so lucrative could they be, that many questions were asked in
public forums about their finances and their value to English life.26 There was a steady
stream of missionaries from abroad who were earning large sums of money from their
work. America, in particular, sent over many temperance missionaries who travelled up
and down England, sometimes holding one day missions, but more often just giving a
single lecture on gospel temperance to an admission-paying audience. These talks
proved to be more of entertaining value than of religious worth. Gospel temperance
missionaries of this type, one observer claimed, did very little for the poor drunken
individual.27 Such criticism, though legitimate for many missionaries, should not, however,
detract from the work of dedicated men and women who were to be found labouring in
the towns and villages of England. Travelling missionaries often brought the problem of
intemperance to the attention of many Englishmen who previously had been ignorant of
it, and not a few families joined the local temperance society after listening to a gospel
temperance missionary in the town’s square.28
All this temperance excitement did not pass Birstall by. On the contrary, it had a vital
influence on the village reformers, and was responsible for enrolling many families in the
Birstall Temperance Society. Although we have no direct figures from the Society, the
books of the teetotal friendly organization, the Rechabites, show the Birstall branch to have
experienced rapid growth in membership between 1878 and 1893. In 1878 it had 73 members
and only a few pounds to its credit, but within fifteen years its membership rolls had grown
to contain 216 names and almost £1,000 had been accumulated in the Rechabites’ treasury;
£600 of this was given to the local temperance society as a mortgage on its hall.29
This was only one indication of the close relationship that existed between the Birstall
Rechabites and the local temperance society. Members of the friendly society were
usually members of the temperance society and for many years the district chief of the local
tent was also the president of the local temperance society. This temperance leader
23 The problem of the central role of wine in the Bible was solved for many teetotalers by the claim that there were
two types of wine in the Bible, fermented and unfermented, and it was this latter ‘good’ wine that Jesus made at
Cana. Lees, F. R., The Marriage at Cana (1883). For the established church’s position see ‘The Scriptural View of
Wine and Strong Drink’, Church Quarterly Review, no. xvi, July 1879.
Church of England Temperance Society branches could only be established in a parish with the consent of the
parish clergy. For most ol the other churches no clear regulations were made regarding the authority for
establishing related temperance societies.
An accurate count of these missions cannot be made. Many came and went with great rapidity while others
existed for many years with only local ties. The Blue Ribbon Gospel Army, one national group, claimed to have
one hundred missions in England and Canada in 1886. ( The Signal, Nov. 3, 1886). In the Manchester area alone
there were at least seven independent permanent missions (Alliance News, 28 January, 1888). The Blue Ribbon
Gospel Temperance Movement, a major national organization, claimed 700,000 pledges were signed at their
missions held throughout the country in the 1880’s. (Rae, John T., ‘The Blue Ribbon Gospel Temperance Move-
ment and Other Aggressive Agencies’, Temperance In All Nations, vol. I, New York, 1893, p. 252).
26 Alliance News, 25 November 1882.
27 McCree, George W., ‘Old Friends and New Faces’, tract published by author, (1883), p. 16.
28 Outdoor meetings were found to be very effective in reaching many people who would not enter a hall to hear
temperance speeches. Miss Dickinson, a long-time member of the Birstall Society, in an interview in 1969, said
her family joined the temperance movement after hearing a temperance missionary in the village square.
29 Rechabite records at the Birstall Temperance Hall.
THE BIRSTALL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY
135
J. I. Nussey, a self-made textile factory owner, gave the Rechabites their own house as a
centre for their activities.30 . n
But the gospel temperance fervour did more than increase the activities ol the Birstal
Society and add new recruits to its ranks - it changed fundamentally the role of the local
temperance society. The change was not a sudden one; in fact it was so gradual that many of
its members were not conscious of it at all. ..
Two main stages can be identified as crucial ones in the transformation ol Birstali
temperance from a community to a sect. The first came in 1890, when the idea of a
temperance Sunday School was broached and quickly adopted. It was felt that there was a
need for a more careful training of the children in temperance principles. The temperance
Sunday School would be an educational and religious institution where the children would
be taught the essentials of evangelical religion mixed with the teachings of teetotalism.
Thus the children would be drawn away from nontemperance comrades and be more fully
integrated into the temperance community.31
The second stage of the change came when the teetotallers decided to hold Sunday morn-
ing religious services in Temperance Hall as part of the regular activities of the Society
These services were the outgrowth of gospel temperance missions that had been held
frequently in the Hall. The Birstali teetotallers who wanted an increased identification with
the temperance community attended these services every Sunday morning and allowed
their former religious connections to lapse. For many this move broke the last major
noneconomic tie they had with the nontemperance world.
Not everyone was happy with this change. Some members wanted to retain their
memberships with their churches and chapels but, while there was no official policy to
force members to renounce outside ties, the informal pressure within the temperance
community to do so was often very strong. Therefore, some members left the society and
sought their temperance affiliations elsewhere. There was also some criticism from other
local temperance societies over the change at Birstali ; many teetotallers did not want their
‘reform movement’ to become a sect.32 This was true of the teetotallers at Batley who were
not happy with their neighbours’ religious changes. But then the Batley reformers
enjoyed a very happy association with their parish church because their vicar was
sympathetic to the temperance movement and openly supported it.33
In Birstali, the parish church was very much part of the drinking world, treating alcoholic
beverages in the traditional English manner, as part of the necessary materials for social
activities. It was common practise, for example, for the parish churchgoers to adjourn
to a nearby public house for a sociable time after all church events.34 This practice excluded
the teetotallers from the informal social contacts that were so important in binding the
nineteenth-century religious communities together. Not only were the teetotallers absent
from these occasions and similar happenings where drink was present, but they were also
then viewed as outsiders by the church groups and their difference was emphasized.
By the end of the nineteenth century two worlds existed for the Birstali reformers, the
30 Cleckheaton Guardian, 1 September 1910.
31 Some of the local temperance societies had previously started their own Sunday Schools because meir children
were exposed to drink on the outings of the regular church related Sunday Schools. (Rastrick, P., The Bradford
Temperance Movement’ unpublished essay, pp. 75-6.)- But Birstali was not under such pressure The local parish
church had discontinued giving its Sunday School scholars ale at their annual picnic in 183 5 (Cradock, p. 158)-
Sunday Schools in Birstali had played a very important role in the training of local children. In discussing the
position of these schools in Birstali, one historian wrote, ‘It was usual to speak of being brought up in the Sunday
School.’ and pointed out that many scholars remained at the school until they married or even later.
(Cradock, p. 156). . , .
32 Some of the nationally prominent temperance advocates fought against the sectarian tendencies that appeared in
local branches of the movement. (Whittaker, Thomas, Life’s Battles in Temperance Armour, 1892, p. 337)-
33 Canon Davis ran an active branch of the Church of England Temperance Society in Batley. (Interview with Mr.
Nawson, former officer of the Batley Temperance Society, in 1969.)
34 Newspaper clipping in Alderman Stone’s scrapbook, no name, no date.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
136
teetotal world centred around the Temperance Hall, and a nontemperance world that was
little known, especially by the young teetotallers.35 Whole families, including children
from birth, were members of the teetotal community and from the age of six all could
be fully enrolled by signing the pledge.36 Although most of the adults had to earn a living
which usually necessitated some contact with the nontemperance world, rarely did these
associations carry over into the social and religious lives of the teetotallers.
This dichotomy continued until the outbreak of war in 1914, when the isolated world
of the teetotallers was broken down. The young teetotal males were called to the army and
there learned to live happily with nontemperance comrades. They discovered that, contrary
to the teachings of their mission, those that drank were not necessarily evil and that the
consumption of a glass or two of ale did not inevitably lead to chronic drunkenness and
disaster. At the end of the war many of these young men found jobs elsewhere and did not
return to the village; some of them married women in other parts of the country who were
only rarely from teetotal families.37
Like many other local temperance societies in the post-war period, Birstall could not
escape the effects of declining general interest in temperance. Just as the great upswing in
the movement had been borne in on a great wave of popular excitement for gospel
temperance, so was there a corresponding deterioration of the spirit and vitality within
these societies when popular support ebbed away. The reaffirmation of the use of
intoxicating wines at the Holy Communion ceremonies in the Established Church, plus the
defeat in 1895 of the Liberal programme which contained provision for local prohibition,
destroyed teetotal hopes of turning England into a country free from drink.38
But in the last analysis, temperance did not decline because it had failed to reach its goals.
It withered away because its frame of reference and its values were no longer valid in
English life after 1918. Just as industrialization and urbanization of the early nineteenth
century had provided a fertile soil for the establishment and growth of the temperance
movement, so did further great changes alter the needs of the people. The spirit of England
in the post-war era was so changed that gospel missions and a temperance reformation no
longer seemed so important to many people. 1914, for most English temperance societies,
was the beginning of the end.39 World War I caused such a social and economic
upheaval that new patterns of development and new life styles were wanted. The question
whether drink leads to poverty or poverty to drink, so popular in the second half of the
nineteenth century, was no longer seen as a genuine issue. By 1918 the young ambitious
workers, who fifty years previously would have been the backbone of the teetotal
movement, were joining the cause of labour and giving their support to collective action.
Individual effort, the keystone of the temperance reformation, was now believed to be
inadequate to the needs of the time.
Yet the Birstall Temperance Society survived, despite the disruptions and dramatic
social changes wrought by the First World War. A bequest in 1914 from its long-time
president, Nussey, freed the Society from the problem of raising funds to pay for its
missionary; even when times were hard, and there was little financial support for
temperance, there was always one professional worker whose job was to keep the cause
alive in the village. But the Birstall Temperance Society was not able to ignore the changes
36 Interview with Miss Dickinson, 1969.
36 Ibid.
37 Interview with Mrs. Holmes, employee of the present Hall, in 1969.
33 This election was a shattering blow from which the temperance party never fully recovered. See Fahey, David M.
‘Temperance and the Liberal Party’ The Journal of British Studies, x, no. 2, May 1971, for a discussion of the
relationship between the temperance reformers and the Liberal Party at the end of the century.
39 The golden era of the gospel temperance years never returned, although in the 1950’$ some temperance supporters
felt there was a revival of interest. But when it occured it was only a local phenomenon and the years between the
two world wars were ones that saw the selling off of the majority of temperance halls.
THE BIRSTALL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY
137
of the twentieth century and had to adjust its goals and activities to the new social climate
in order to remain viable. It increased the religious role of the Hall while allowing its
temperance commitment to decline. In 1912 the Hall and its missionary were given
authority to perform weddings on its premises and in the 1920 s the word Gospel was
finally added to the name of the Hall (although there are no known records to indicate
exactly how or when this took place).40 In 1940, to confirm its religious identity and
indicate its desire to be part of the non-denonunational church establishment, the Birstall
Gospel Temperance Hall affiliated with the Federation of Independent Evangelical
Churches. . ,
Although the temperance pledge is still signed by all new members, many m t e
congregation, particularly among the young, feel that temperance principles are no onger
pertinent to present day social conditions; they prefer to stress the rehgious aspects of the
mission and treat the old hall more as a church than as a mission hall. This change of attitude
is today causing a problem between the generations. Traditionally the holding of bazaars
and sales of work within the mission hall has been a popular method of raising funds or
the Hall For the younger members, however, this desecration of a church by such
commercial dealings is sacrilegious. The older teetotallers, on the other hand, want to
continue in the old way and have the Hall play its time-honoured community role.
Conclusion
The development of the Birstall Temperance Society from a small reform group to a
fringe sect and then on to full membership in the Federation of Independent
Evangelical Churches reflected the changing needs and values of this distinct segment o
the Birstall population over a period of a century and a half. The years when the Birstall
teetotallers enjoyed their greatest success were also a time when the village and its
surrounding area experienced great increases in its population. Many of the Birstall
teetotallers were employed by the new textile industry, and even though we have no
records of the origins of the membership, it can be reasonably assumed that, like the
majority of inhabitants of Birstall, the teetotallers and their families were relative new-
comers to the area. In their new environment this segment of the population found their
needs were not fulfilled by the established institutions. Consequently, they set up their own
organization, one that gave a framework and support for their own beliefs and values.
Birstall was not alone in having this teetotal minority. The North of England was a
bastion of temperance in the late nineteenth century, with nearly all its towns and villages
having their own local temperance society.42 What was special about the Birstall reformers
was that their mixture of enthusiasm and stability enabled them to function long after
many of the other societies had ‘fallen asleep or had become bankrupt. No doubt t e
survival of this temperance world was aided by the strength of temperance sentiment t at
prevailed through the Spen Valley, the area of the Birstall Temperance Society and the
Heavy Woollen District Temperance Union. Temperance principles so pervaded the life
styles of the ‘respectable’ segment of this area that many of the nontemperance chapels and
churches gave support to temperance principles. One indication of the sympathy given to
the temperance reform movement was the constant reelection to Parliament by the Spen
Valley electorate of T. P. Whittaker, a son of a nationally known temperance leader and a
temperance worker in his own right. Even when political temperance suffered its greatest
40 Birstall Temperance Records at the Hall.
41 Interview with Mrs. Holmes, 1969. .... . ,
42 Lancashire was the birthplace of the teetotal movement as well as of the English prohibitionist party the Unite
Kingdom Alliance. Eventually the London based National Temperance League moved to Sheffield where it
combined with the northern-dominated British Temperance League.
*3 8 THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
defeat and many of its supporters were not returned to Parliament in 1895, Whittaker
easily retained his seat.43
The stability of the Birstall Society itself stemmed from the unusual cohesiveness of the
Birstall temperance community. Whole families joined the Society and took part in various
individual and joint activities. There was an interlocking relationship with other temperance
organizations in the community, with multiple memberships in the local groups common.
Bound together by continual personal participation, a strong sense of communal loyalty
developed. Such fidelity was encouraged by the internal status structure of the Society that
gave prestige and responsibility to many talented men and women who in the larger
society would have had little chance to exercise their organizational and leadership skills.
Within the Society, as well as in the other temperance associations in Birstall, poorly
educated working-class teetotallers were as active as the more prosperous members.
The development of the Birstall temperance community can best be understood by
relating it to its general social context. Like many other northern communities in the
nineteenth century, Birstall became split into ‘chapel’ and ‘nonchapel’ factions. The Gospel
Temperance Hall could not belong to the nonchapel half because this group was thought
to be pub-oriented. Neither could it be a full member of the chapel group, because the
‘respectability’ of the reformers was questioned; teetotalism as a dominant creed was akin
to fanaticism in the minds of many chapel-goers.44 Consequently, for a long time the
Gospel Temperance Hall was only on the fringes of the chapel world. This situation
gradually changed as the reformers’ proselytizing spirit declined and they ceased to bombard
their nontemperance neighbours with their teetotal views. In time the reformers became
more like members of the other chapels and missions in the area and less like a crusading
sect.
A friendly, if not close, relationship developed between the temperance and the chapel
groups. Many of the local tradesmen who belonged to the local chapels but were not
themselves teetotallers, became willing to give financial support to the temperance
community. Some of their gifts were prompted by the publication of lists of contributions
made to the funds of the local temperance society, but many were voluntary acts of support
for the reformers.45 The teetotallers were often valued customers; being thrifty, reliable,
and prompt in the payment of their bills. Their life style was similar to that of the other
chapel-goers in Birstall; it emphasized the importance of financial responsibility,
sometimes, according to critics, to the point of miserliness.46
With this integration of the Birstall teetotallers into respectable local society, there was
also an improvement in the relationship between the reformers and the ‘nonchapel’ portion
of the community. There were many upright citizens who felt that the public house was
the real social centre of the village, not the chapel. These people resented the slurs and
defamation poured on the local public houses by overenthusiastic reformers who refused
to accept the fact that many people could enjoy a drink without evil consequences.47
Traditionally the reformers had used a piece of common land situated in front of a
popular public house for their anti-drink meetings. This activity had antagonized many
43 Alliance News, 26 July 1895, pp. 484.
44 The Leeds Temperance Society solicited all the ministers of religion in their town, both Church of England as
well as nondenominational, to find out their views on teetotalism. See Report in the Minutes of the Leeds
Temperance Society for 1848.
45 Interview with Miss Dickinson, 1969.
46 It was often said that teetotalers were a selfish lot— too mean to buy drinks. (Todmorden and Hebden Bridoe News
23 July, 1875). A
47 The moderate drinker was the worse enemy to many teetotallers, not the drunkard who showed clearly the
consequences of his drink. See the letter of the Duke of Westminster, a temperance sympathiser, in Alliance
News, 9 March, 1878 complaining about teetotal attacks on the moderate drinker.
THE BIRSTALL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY
139
of the inhabitants in the town and was the cause of more than one fight.48. When the
aggressive spirit of the teetotallers subsided and these and similar meetings ceased, there
was a corresponding decline in the tensions between the two groups. ,
Today only a small minority of the older teetotallers yearn for the good old days when
temperance missionaries went forth to do battle with the ‘demon drink’. The rest of the
congregation are now content to live peacefully as part of the greater Birstall community.
Their present leader is a man of religion who wears a clerical collar and sees himself
primarily as part of the religious establishment. New members are sometimes enrolled
but it is not the temperance activities that attract them so much as the regular religious
proceedings at the Gospel Temperance Hall.
48 Newspaper clipping in Alderman Stone’s scrapbook. The land in front of the local licensed house was a popular
site for outdoor meetings of all types.
140
OBITUARY
MR. C. E. HARTLEY, 1903-1973
The sudden death of Mr C. E. Hartley following an accident while travelling home
from Egypt came as a shock to all members of the society.
Cecil Ernest Hartley was a native of Harrogate and shared in the management of his
father’s business, which he took over and continued alone after his father’s death. Mr
Hartley retired in 1954, and since then had devoted much of his attention to the societies
of which he was a member.
In his youth Cecil Hartley, as he will be remembered by many, was a keen motorist
and photographer, interests which he always maintained. His large collection of slides,
built up over many years during holidays, conferences and society excursions, remains
uniquely intact. In Harrogate and the county he supported many societies, none longer
than the Harrogate Literary Society which he joined in the 1920’s.
His contribution and service to archaeology in Yorkshire extended over many years.
In 1946 he became a member of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, and with
Mr. R. J. A. Bunnett, Mr. H. J. Stickland and the late James Ogden played a large part in
founding the Harrogate Group. He served the latter as representative on the Council of
the parent society for 17 years, and was both Chairman and President of the Group. In
1968 Mr. Hartley was elected a Vice-President of the parent society.
For fifteen years he served as Honorary Secretary for Ancient Monuments and also under-
took that office for Historic Buildings. To both he brought a selfless attention which entailed
visits to sites and buildings all over Yorkshire, work in which his quiet, methodical manner
belied the problems and difficulties set him. Neither the long journeys to remote parts of
the county nor the burden of correspondence deterred him, or affected his interest, and it
was only when the volume of work increased to an unbearable degree that he suggested
to the society a division of Ancient Monuments from Historic Buildings. His high standards
in this work were something that all will remember.
His service to the society brought him into contact with many other organizations in
Yorkshire, and for many years he represented the Harrogate Group on the Council for
British Archaeology. In 1961 and 1962 he served as Chairman of the Yorkshire Group of
the Council for British Archaeology, and the recently published Inventory of Yorkshire
Monuments owes much to his assistance and checking. As with his other activities, Mr
Hartley steadily supported the Yorkshire C.B.A., and his appearance at all meetings was
something that all could expect and rely on. Since 1950 he had also been a member of the
Prehistoric Society and a regular attender at their annual conferences and meetings.
I4i
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER: 1973
COMPILED BY F. THORP
PREHISTORIC
ADDINGHAM, W. R. (SE 086496) See Medieval section.
BAINBRIDGE, N.R. (SD 907881) D. Hall reports the finding of a barbed and tanged arrowhead. In the
possession of the finder.
( SCOUT CRAG (SD 877865) A burial mound, approximately 4-5 m wide and o-6 m high, with a wall of
well-coursed limestone surrounding it, is reported by D. Hall. The wall stands 0-3 m high, with a diameter of 9 m.
} SEMERWATER (SD 917874) D. Hall reports the finding of one barbed and tanged arrowhead. (SD 918874)
waste flakes, bones, teeth, microliths, and two leaf-shaped arrowheads. (SD 922875) two stone beads. (SD 921876)
bones, teeth, waste flakes, microliths, one leaf-shaped arrowhead and three barbed and tanged arrowheads. In the
possession of the finder.
BARNBURGH, W.R. (SE 490034) P. Buckland reports the surface find by P. Smedley, of the butt of a polished
axe with edge facets, Group VI. In Doncaster Museum.
BRAMHOPE, W.R. (SE 268428) J. A. Gilks reports that a polished stone axe was found by J. A. N. Crabtree
of Breary Grange, whilst digging a posthole. The axe, of pointed-oval section, is pale grey-green with flake scars on
both faces below the butt. Length 15-6 cm, cutting edge width 6-9 cm, butt width 3-3 cm, average thickness
3- 3 cm. Now in the Tolson Memorial Museum.
BURTON FLEMING, E.R. (TA 096694) I. M. Stead and A. L. Pacitto report an investigation of a half-mile
length of the verges of the Rudston-Burton Fleming road, where burials have been found. A further 14 graves were
excavated, eight were oriented N.S., at the centre of square-plan barrows, with grave-goods including three iron
brooches, two pots, one bronze bracelet, a shale bracelet, and an iron ring-headed pm. Six burials were orientated
E.W., two were apparently flat graves, one in a circular barrow, and three in square-plan barrows, grave-goods
consisted of two swords, two spearheads, a knife, and iron and bone objects, possibly tools.
CANTLEY, W.R. (SK 624990) T. G. Manby reports the finding of a stone axe, 8-4 cm long, cutting edge 5.5 cm
—Group VI, ploughed up near Rossington Bridge, with some red deer antler.
CARPERBY, N.R. (SD 985905) A barbed and tanged arrowhead was found by D. Hall at Nab End, on earth dug
from an old lead-miners watercourse. Retained by the finder.
COMMONDALE, N.R. CODHILL SLACK (NZ 612123) W. Pearson reports that the excavation by the Tees-
side Archaeological Society of the stone ring-bank, 11-5 m across, and enclosed cairn has been completed. The
intensely burnt area under the cairn suggests a pyre and hence a dating in the Urn period of the Bronze Age. ine
abundant flints were mainly wasters and at least 50 per cent burnt. Pottery remained elusive. Nearer dating awaits
analysis of the deposits. Adjacent to the above are several sub-rectangular scoops with low tumble-down wailing
on three sides and opening downhill and to the S.
DENBY, W.R. CASTLE HILL (SE 205069) J. A. Gilks reports that flint waste, including flakes and chippings,
and two plane-convex knives of Clark’s first and third types ( Ant. J . xii (1932) p. 158-62, Pi. XXXII 1.3 •)> were
found on the plough-reduced rampart of the enclosure. ( Register 1972 p. 199)- Report forthcoming in J. Huddersjield
and Dist. Arch. Soc. Finds in the Tolson Memorial Museum.
EDLINGTON, W.R. (SK 539959) M. J. Dolby reports the surface find of a stone axe, 11-5 cm long, cutting edge
4- 5 cm, with sharp, angular facets on edges. In the Doncaster Museum.
ESTON, N.R. (NZ 569182) F. A. Aberg and D. A. Spratt found four cupmarked stones and another with cup-
and-ring marking, in the dry-stone wall which runs southeastward from the S.E. entrance to the hill-fort on Eston
Nab, at about 200 m from the entrance. The stones are now in the Dorman Museum, Middlesbrough. Cupstones
and cup-and-ring stones are recorded in barrows on the North Yorkshire moors containing each of the three mam
Bronze Age pottery types, and it is reasonable to think that these stones originated in barrows in the vicinity.
( (NZ 585175) A cylindrical whetstone 11-4 cm long, 3-2 cm diameter, and rounded at both ends was found
by R. E. Goddard and D. A. Spratt, on the surface of a ploughed field on the Eston Hills. It possibly belongs to the
Iron Age, being similar to those found at Percy Rigg, and Crag Bank, Kildale, in Iron Age contexts. There were
indications of prehistoric settlement in the area of the find, namely flints, pot boilers, and burnt stones.
142
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
GREWELTHORPE, W.R. (SE 268742) E. Cooper reports that a creamy-white polished flint axe, one-third of
the butt-end broken off, was found at Azerley and retained by C. Broadley of Home Farm.
GRINTON, N.R. HARKERSIDE (SE 033976) Enclosures, hut circles, and a small henge, are reported by E. Cooper.
GUISBOROUGH, N.R. COD HILL HEIGHTS (NZ 615129) S. White reports a surface find of a very fine
leat-shaped arrowhead.
HIGH ABBOTSIDE, N.R. STAGGSFELL (SD 867931) D. Hall reports a complex of fairly massive hut circles
and enclosures on an area of gritstone outcrop. At (SD 869932) is a single enclosure under a limestone scar.
; ’ (SD 876924) D. Hall reports that a barbed and tanged arrowhead was found by C. Peacock of Shaw Gill
Farm and retained by him.
HILTON, N.R. (NZ 465123) A Neolithic polished stone axe was found by M. M. Brown, on the surface of a
ploughed field. Retained by the finder.
INGLEBY GREENHOW, N.R. (NZ 593030) A fragment of a flat rotary quern, of local sandstone, 40-6 cm in
diameter and 8-8 cm thick, was found 011 the surface by R. S. Close.
KILDALE N.R. (NZ 605100) R. A. Close reports the finding by A. Pierson, of a small Neolithic greenstone axe
on the surface at Bankside Farm.
KIRK SMEATON, W.R. (SD 504175) T. G. Manby reports the finding of a flint knife— a triangular flake of
flint retouched along one edge, 60 cm long. In Doncaster Museum.
1 N'R' ^SD 9I259985) A Bronze Age burial was found by E. Cooper at West Arngill, upon a level under-
did: thickly covered with linestone debris from Arngill Scar. Finds of bones but no implements or pottery.
(NY 91250090) Hut circles noted by E. Cooper, on the right of the path leading to Upper Sw inner gill, parallel
to the limestone scar.
, (SD 91759756) One half of a polished, Langdale type Neolithic axe was found by E. Cooper at Rash Farm.
— , KELD SPRINGS (SD 943965) E. Cooper reports chipping sites at Oxnop Gill, with finds of one barbed
and tanged arrowhead, scrapers, and flakes.
OXENHOPE, W.R. (SE 463226) J. A. Gilks and G. Chambers, for the West Riding Archaeological Research
Committee, completed the sifting of the spoil heaps at Nab Water ( Register 1972, p. 200). In dumped clay and peat
were core trimming flakes, flakes, blades, and chippings of white-cream-grey flint. Retained by the Committee.
POLLINGTON CUM BALNE, W.R. (SE 601183) E. Houlder reports that the lower stone of an Iron Age or
Romano-British quern was found by P. Laycock. Of gritty conglomerate with silica, diameter 36 cm, depth 8-5 cm.
, (SE 615178) See Romano-British section.
PRESTON UNDER SCAR, N.R. (SE 064917) A small barbed and tanged arrowhead and a waste flake of flint
found by D. Hall, at Scarth Nick. In the possession of the finder.
REETH, N.R. CRINGLEY HILL (NZ 004005) A microlith, three barbed and tanged arrowheads, and assorted
worked flints found by E. Cooper.
, HEALAUGH (SE 017992) E. Cooper reports that a Neolithic axehead, in perfect condition and of material
not yet identified, was found and retained by Dr Bell of Reeth.
, REETH HIGH MOOR (NY 966013) A flint chipping floor with numerous wasters, three thumb scrapers
and a borer, found by E. Cooper.
, REETH LOW MOOR (NY 00700035) A chipping site producing barbed and tanged arrowheads, graver
spall, leaf arrowheads, saw-blades, and many flakes, was found by E. Cooper on Calver Hill.
RISHWORTH, W.R. BILBERRY HILL (SE 039159) J. A. Gilks and G. Chambers, for the West Riding Archaeo-
logical Research Committee, continued the surface examination of a small occupation site (Register 1972, p. 200).
A core, a broken microlith, waste flakes and chippings were found. Retained by the Committee. e.
ROXBY, N.R. (NZ 762143) D. R. Brown and D. A. Spratt report that aerial photographic reconnaissance has
led to the discovery of five hut circles, internal diameter from 8 to 1 1 m, each surrounded by a circular ditch.
Excavation of one hut by the Teesside Archaeological Society dated it to the late-La Tene Iron Age.
SPROTBOROUGH, W.R. (SE 545030) T. G. Manby reports a surface find of a leaf-shaped arrowhead. In the
Doncaster Museum.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER
143
STOKESLEY, N.R. SEAMER CARRS (NZ 484098) Around the shores of what was until recent times a lake,
many flint finds have been made. Recently D. R. Brown, R. E. Goddard, and D. A. Spratt found a flint triangle,
blunted on two sites at right-angles to one another, 1-9 and i*2 cm long, identical to Maglemosian triangles from
Starr Carr, also a handpick, 12-4 cm long and 5 cm wide, one end pointed and the other a rounded chisel.
THWING, E.R. (TA 030707) T. G. Manby reports that the first season of excavation by the Yorkshire Archaeo-
logical Society Prehistory Research Section of a double-ditched circular earthwork, (St. Joseph, Antiquity 42 (1968),
pp. 1 30-1 PI. XX) found that the outer ditch was originally continuous at an apparent southern entrance, with
vertical sides and level floor, 3 m deep, 4 ni wide. The internal bank preserved the old land surface in a zone 6-5 m
wide with a double row of massive postholes 2 m apart, for a box-rampart structure. The ditch primary silting
contained domestic debris including late B-A pottery. In the R-B period the ditch had been filled with massive
chalk rubble which formed the floor of a hut outlined by a triple ring of postholes. An external enclosure was added
at this time consisting of a V-shaped inner ditch and a broad outer ditch of unfinished appearance.
UPLEATHAM, N.R. (NZ 624202) R. E. Goddard, D. A. Spratt, and C. A. Zealand report the finding of a cup-
stone protruding from the structure of a large, 15 m diameter, round barrow at a point 7*3 m E.S.E. from the centre
of the barrow. The upper surface of the stone which measures 1 m by 0-3 m has 19 cup-marks, nine of which are
5*7 cm diameter, the remainder being smaller, down to 3 '8 cm diameter. There are also three grooves inter-
connecting pairs of cups. The stone is of local sandstone and seems to be part of the kerb.
UPSALL, N.R. (NZ 555166) M. M. Brown reports the finding of an oval, double-edged flint scraper of the
Bronze Age. In the possession of the Teesside Museums and Art Galleries Service.
WELTON, E.R. (SE 974279) See Romano-British section,
WESTERDALE, N.R. (NZ 641029) A leaf-shaped plano-convex knife, 6-4 cm by 3-2 cm, was found on the sur-
face at White Gill by D. A. Spratt, in the area of the Mesolithic settlements. Neolithic and Early Bronze Age flints
have been discovered by others in this area, and seem to indicate continuity of activity after the Mesolithic period.
WEST TANFIELD, N.R. (SE 260779) P. Mayes reports that a dragline operator at Westwood Quarries neatly
bisected a Beaker burial lying 2-4 m below the surface during gravel digging operations. The remaining skeletal
material was collected by P. C. Leaman, together with pot fragments. Subsequently P. Mayes with a small team
completed the excavations of the grave, recovering further bone, pot fragments, and samples for analysis.
YORK, STOCKTON MOOR WEST (SE 648542) The York Archaeological Trust directed by P. V. Addyman
and J. B. Whitwell, reports that a pit alignment was discovered in preliminary survey on the Outer Ring Road line.
ROMANO-BRITISH
ADWICK-LE-STREET, W.R. (SE 536069) M. J. Dolby reports the surface find of an AE coin of Constantine I.
Obv. CONSTANTIN VS AVG. Rev. Altar inscribed VOTIS XX, 3 stars above. BEATA TRANQVILLITAS.
Trier A.D. 322.
ALDBOROUGH, W.R. (SE 404662) Miss D. Charlesworth, for the Department of the Environment, attempted
to locate the S.W. corner bastion at Isurium Brigantum, but failed to settle the matter, a Department of the
Environment path and trees restricting digging. There are two periods of town-wall clay-and-cobble foundations
at this corner but the wall itself is totally robbed. The front of the internal tower is under the path, but probably
only its foundations remain.
ARMTHORPE, W.R. (SE 629041) M. J. Dolby reports the finding of 2 AR coins — denarii of Trajan, (i) Obv.
IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC. P.M. TR. P. Rev. COS V P P SPQR OPTIMO PRINC. (?) Aequitas
standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae. (ii) As (i) but with Arabia standing left, holding branch, camel at feet.
Both 103-m A.D. In Doncaster Museum.
, (SE 629044) AE coin, sestertius of Hadrian (117-138). Obv. (IMP CAESAR TR)AIAN(VS) HAD(RIANVS
AVG). Rev. (?) Jupiter seated left, Victory in extended right hand and vertical sceptre left. A surface find reported
by M. J. Dolby.
BAINBRIDGE, N.R. D. Hall reports the following at:
, CLOSE ING GILL (SD 883858) Two irregularly shaped enclosures below a limestone scar. Foundations
nearby suggest that the site was heavily robbed for the Parliamentary enclosure of 1859.
, COUNTERSETT CRAG (SD 907880) One hut circle and a small enclosure with several yards of embank-
ment to the N.E. The site is located on a gritstone terrace facing NW.
, GREENSIDE (SD 864844) Two enclosures, one 12 m by 9 m, the other 8 m by 7 m. The smaller one
contains a hut circle.
144 the YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
— — , GREENSIDE ALLOTMENTS (SD 862845) Two small enclosures and three hut circles, facing NE in a
hollow among limestone. (SD 857841) An enclosure, 15-5 m by 10 m. g a
, GREENSIDE END (SD 864845) Hut circles and enclosures. The site faces SE., on limestone.
, KELL BOTTOM (SD 937852) Many hut circles and small enclosures at the foot of a limestone scar.
BAINBRIDGE N.R. STAKE ALLOTMENTS (SD 935849) A large complex of irregularly-shaped enclosures
re IS 3 g°°d Photo«raPh of 'h<= «« - The Yorkshire Dales
- , WOLDSIDE (SD 883832) A group of hut circles, possibly four, in an enclosure 46 m by 27 m, on a small
terrace at the foot of a limestone crag. Some of the stones have been used to make a sheep fold.
BENTLEY WITH ARKSEY, W.R. (SE 563045) M. J. Dolby reports the finding of the following coins AE of
Licimus I (307-324). Obv. IMP. LIC. LICINIVS PF AVG. Rev. Figure standing left holding figure in right hand
standard in left hand-IOVI CONSERVATORI. mm. M -Siscia mint. Surface find, in possession of the finder!
SIS
^E 5*IOS9)A AE sestertJius of Hadrian. Obv. IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG. P.M. TR.P.
CUS 111. Rev. Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae. MONETA AVGSTI S.C. Rome mint
a.d. 119-121. Surface find. In Doncaster Museum.
iiovM AVG_IAn“rrSMleurmUS °bV' ’MP C POSTVMVS PF AVG- Rev.
BISHOPDALE, N.R. (SD 939832) Many hut circles and small enclosures at Lockah Beck Springs, in a hollow among
mestone and facing E„ are reported by D. Hall. To the N„ on a limestone plateau, are a number of large 2
sided enclosures with two huts, one circular, the other rectangular. 5 S
2MPTON °NA SWALE’ N-R- (SE 225993) Mrs- S- Thubron reports that excavation has continued around a
platform uncovered in 1972 A series of ditches were found beneath two layers of cobbling W. of the platform and
one continued along the southern edge, together with a further two ditches. Across the platform area were a number
° ^aPf0S^0!5S/0rm!Tf 3 f"CirC C C-? m cEameter- APart ^0^ a second-century trumpet brooch, the finds indicate
di“‘ he £ “dgetaTdeftncr A ^ WaU the P-Me -turn the outer
BY?GHWALyS’ ^SE 5I9I2°) P- Roberts reports surface finds from Robin Hood’s Well Roman fort of
of ' l7^-fauiateS of T^ncus f (27°-273) and Carausius (287-294) and a slight scatter of R-B pottery. Sections
of the fort ditches are visible in the old quarry E. of new barn. Finds in Doncaster Museum.
GARGRAVE, W.R. KIRK SINK (SD 939536) Further excavation of the Romano-British site by B R Hartley
for the Roman Antiquities Section of the Y.A.S. in 1971, revealed a relatively un-Romanized second century
occupation and showed there were two houses in existence at the same time from the early third century. In 1973
the E wall of the northern house was located, confirming that the southern and northern houses had exactly the
same length A second-century posthole presumably indicates a timber building to the E. Also located was the
at house, the ^arrangement :of the various rooms, and the water supply-pipe trench. Pottery finds raise the
interesting probability that the baths were earlier than the two houses investigated, and that a Romanized second-
century house has yet to be found.
rnMYTAMT^if/c(A^50D8) I Dolby TP°rtS the surface fmding of an AE coin of Constantine I. Obv.
GONSTANTINys AVG. Rev. Globe set on altar inscribed VOTIS XX, stars above. BEATA TRANOVILLITAS
mm. Ineg. — (?) Trier.
HAWES, N.R. CAM WEST END (SD 817827) D. Hall reports a complex of five enclosures extending to about
halt an acre in all. The site occupies a shallow hollow with limestone pavement. One hut circle survives at the S.
side and others may have existed there prior to the building of a boundary wall across the site.
— , SNAIZHOLME HIGH SIDE (SD 840861) D. Hall reports an enclosure with rounded corners, roughly
46 m by 27 m, on limestone near the Ten End road. & 7
HICKLLTON, W.R. (SE 499037) M. J. Dolby reports a surface find on a ploughed field of a fourth-century
AE com (16 mm) illeg. Also scatter of R-B pottery, by R. Crosland. Finds in Doncaster Museum.
HIGH ABBOTSIDE, N.R STAGGESFELL (SD 867931) D. Hall reports a complex of fairly massive hut circles
and enclosures on an area of gritstone outcrop. (SD 869932) a single enclosure under a limestone scar.
HUDDERFIELD, W.R. (SE 081174) For Roman road see Manchester-Tadcaster road survey at end of this section.
MARSDEN, W.R. (SE 007118 and 015127) For Roman road see Manchester-Tadcaster road survey at end of
this section. 7
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER
145
POLLINGTON-CUM-BALNE, W.R. (SE 615178) Two beehive querns noted by P. Laycock in the possession
of W. Faulkingham of Balne Hall are reported by E. Holder. 1. Diameter 30 cm, height 15-5 cm, of brown gritstone
with deep hopper and two handle-holes, one penetrating to the grinding surface. 2. Diameter 31 cm, height 17 5 cm>
of grey-brown grit, with concave underside, shallow hopper, and two handle-holes. Both querns much worn and
badly plough-damaged.
POLLINGTON-CUM-BALNE, W.R. (SE 601183) See Prehistoric section.
, (SE 623175) See Medieval section.
PONTEFRACT, W.R. (SE 459224) E. Houlder reports the finding by R. Brooke, of a fibula in bronze with red
enamel inset along both sides of the bow. Very similar to Colling wood & Richmond type 42. A head-stud brooch,
probably early second century.
ROTHERHAM, W.R. (SK 414916) Fieldwork by S. P. Hornshaw and P. Fullelove is continuing on the line of
a possible road between the forts at Templeborough and Broxtowe. The road appears to run N. down the limestone
ridge E. of the Rother valley before swinging N.W. for Templeborough. Its supposed line S. is via Whiston, Ulley,
Todwick, Kiveton Park, Harthill, Clowne, Scarcliffe, Plesley, Sutton and Kirkby in Ashfield, and Hucknall to
Broxtowe. Initial identification has been made by field work, surface finds, humidity-meter graphs, field-names,
tithe maps and by aerial photographs taken by Meridian Airmaps Ltd. Selective excavation is to take place shortly.
SADDLEWORTH, W.R. (SD 975064) For Roman road see Manchester-Tadcaster road survey at end of this
section.
SETTLE, W.R. ATTERMIRE CAMP EAST (SD 845641) A. King reports the partial excavation of a native
R-B farmstead on a S. scarp slope at 1250 ft. O.D. Complete excavation of 8m-diameter hut circle yielded nothing,
but finds from the positive lynchet of a sub-rectangular enclosure, 20 m by 12 m included calcite-gritted cooking
pots, rim bowls in black, grey-green, and light-buff fabrics, two mortaria, one, white body with black/brown grit,
the other, salmon-pink with grey core and black-grit hammer-headed rim, bronze brooches — pennanular and oval
disc, jet button and bead, glass bead, portion of sandstone whetstone, various flints and some galena (lead ore).
Animal remains included pig, sheep, bovate and horse.
SHADWELL, W.R. (SE 344388) For Roman road see Manchester-Tadcaster road survey at end of this section.
THWING, E.R. (TA 030707) See Prehistoric section.
WELTON, E.R. (SE 974279) Continued excavation by R. W. Mackey for the Department of the Environment
(. Register 1971, p. 218) found two animal shelters, a circular, 11 m-diameter hut next to and contemporary with the
R-B villa, a fourth-century aisled barn, 17 m by 8-5 m, third on the site, replacing a corn-drying house, four corn-
driers (total now 8), ten R-B inhumations, crouched, extended, and casual, widely scattered, and two pony burials.
The Iron Age farm replaced by the villa c. a.d. ioo, which was demolished by a.d. 340, though occupation
continued at least until a.d. 400.
WHARRAM PERCY, E.R. (SE 858642) See Medieval section.
YORK. The York Archaeological Trust under the direction of P. V. Addyman and J. B. Whitwell has excavated
several sites with the following findings:
, CHURCH STREET/SWINEGATE (SE 603519) Emergency work on the corner, near E. intervallum road,
revealed a well-preserved bath building with later added hypocaust system and nearby, below a narrow alley, an
extensive and massive stone sewer, followed underground for 50‘5 The sewer was of huge millstone grit slabs
with side passages leading to lavatories. A later addition to the main sewer, in limestone with millstone grit capstones,
joined at a well-constructed inspection chamber. The sewer and subsidiary channels all turned along the intervallum
road, presumably making for the Porta Principalis Sinistra.
, KENT STREET (SE 608512) Roman ditches, perhaps field boundaries, were found at the cattle market site.
LEADMILL LANE (SE 607513) Late first and second century pits were found near the assumed junction
of roads approaching from the S.E.
, SKELDERG ATE/FALKLAND STREET (SE 601514) An extensive excavation was made near the ancient
riverfront. Traces of substantial stone Roman buildings with high quality painted wall-plaster were found, the
main structure, heavily robbed and damaged by later pits, was apparently a town house with large apsidal annexes.
There was little evidence of first, early-second or late fourth century occupation.
, ALDWARK (SE 60655205) Following the work of 1971-3, Mrs. E. M. King reports excavation by the
York Excavation Group at the E. end of Brewery Yard, 55 m nearer the fortress. 1 m of industrial debris followed by
1-5 m of soil seemed to comprise the build-up of the fourteenth-eighteenth centuries. A fourteenth-century SE.
property boundary bank was succeeded by an eighteenth-century wall. So far, sherds of the three kiln-pottery types
and vitrified tile fragments, sealed under an eleventh-century layer, represent the sole trace of Roman activity.
146
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Groun^TWIf ^ ^ TADGASTE^ I}OAD SURVEY (Margary 712) Fieldwork and excavation by the 712
Group (Bradford Grammar School Arch. Soc. and Saddleworth W.E.A. Archaeology Class) led by D Haigh is
continuing ( Register 1972, p. 203). Results include: y ' g ’ S
W R' THURSTON CLOUGH ROAD (SD 975064) Excavation shows a well-preserved
sand and sandstone agger 9-5 m wide, up to 0-5 m thick, carrying a road of c. 6-3 m. Perhaps a shallow N ditch.
W R' GLI?GATE CLOEJGH (SE 007118) Heavy gritstone agger over 10 m wide, up to 0-46 m
thick, carrying a road of over 6 m, of similar material. No ditches apparent.
, BERRY GREAVE. (SE 015127) No trace of the road at this point.
weT^hef^’ WR. OUTLANE, WINTER HILL (SE 081174) Road, unearthed by garden landscaping, on
' !i v u ^ ^r1edshf e'dfyj®unda,tlon’.hadtracesofnatural sandst°ne slabs topped by cobbles. Road width 6-5 m.
N. ditch only, which had been heavily disturbed in last two centuries.
aiHNl^d ELLP WriR‘ ^ WOOD (SE 344388) A series of large (30 cm) gritstones dispersed in woodland
and piled on E. edge of first field westwards, close to postulated line, suggests scattered and removed metalling.
ANGLO-SAXON
HOLME upON-spALpiNG-MO°R, E.R. (SE 821389) H. G. Ramm reports a hitherto unrecorded fragment
ot a late Saxon cross with a seated figure in Nunburnholme-York style, built into the fifteenth-century window of
the first stage of the church tower, inside, on the S. side. Photographed for the National Monument Record.
WHARRAM PERCY, E.R. (SE 858642) See Medieval section.
YORK. The York Archaeological Trust, under the direction of P. V. Addyman and J. B. Whitwell, excavated
several sites with the following findings:
, FALKLAND STREET (SE 601514) At the car park site there was intensive Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Danish
occupation, represented mainly by scores of pits with abundant finds.
J7’ KEN.T STREET (SE 608512) At the cattle market site many middle-Saxon finds were made, but onlv one
undisturbed context was found, a well containing burnt wattle and daub, many animal bones, pins, a fine cruciform
enamelled brooch associated with two coins of Eardbert (737-758), but no pottery. It suggests substantial occupation
outside the later walled city area. F
-, LEADMILL LANE. Debris from a bone comb and bone skate factory c. ninth-tenth century, was found in
pits.
, PAVEMENT (SE 604517) Excavations continued under Lloyd's Batik, revealing a total stratification of
10 m. Ten successive timber buildings (C14 dates a.d. 960 ± 100; 920± 100; 88o± 100) included various construction
echmques. Leather working installations and many waste products were found. Finds included imports (amber
soapstone, whetstones, Rhenish ceramics), textiles, wooden objects, a full range of normal contemporary artifacts’
and a pottery sequence. The lower levels were caeramic (?pre-8oo) with York ware, followed by Torksey/Thetford
types, then Stamford ware and a pimply glazed ware towards the end of the sequence (?c. 1100).
— — , SKELDERGATE (SE 602514) Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Danish occupation layers exist at this site and
will be investigated in 1974.
MEDIEVAL
ADDINGHAM, W.R (SE 086496) Mrs H. E. J. Le Patourel reports continued excavation E. of the rectory
garden. Postholes of timber buildings from the twelfth to the sixteenth century were located. Part of the top of the
perimeter bank associated with last year’s ditch was cleared, this showed evidence of timber reinforcement which
may be of either Iron Age or early post-Roman date. Slag and burnt daub from early iron smelting were
again found. b
BROTTON N.R (NZ 692198) Excavations by S. K. Chapman for the Guisborough and District Archaeology
Society cut through the W. and S. sides of two enclosures. The W. section disclosed stone wall foundations with a
stone paved opening. The S. section also found wall foundations and a paved opening with a socket stone.
Quantities of thirteenth- fourteenth-century pottery, glazed and plain, were found associated with the foundations,
about 45 cm below the present ground level. No occupation traces or animal remains have been found in the interior
of the walls so far.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER
147
COOKRIDGE, W.R. (SE 261397) Prior to redevelopment, Miss J. E. Exwood and volunteers are excavating
inside a timbered barn with later central wall, at High Farm. Two superimposed floors with material from the
thirteenth century on, have been found. Work continues.
GOLDSBOROUGH, W.R. (SE 378558) Mrs. R. Hartley reports the finding of the neck of a Rhenish salt-glaze
jug with mask of Cardinal Bellarmine, near the probable site of the pre-1625 hall. Retained by the finder C. Voakes,
East View Farm.
HALIFAX, W.R. (SE 09502533) Excavations in the Lower George Hotel ( Register 1972, p. 204) by J. A. Gilks for
the West Riding Archaeological Research Committee and the Tolson Memorial Museum, showed that House X
had originally been of courtyard type. Parts of the west wing were found inside the hotel, including a king-post
truss with diagonal studding, infilled with clay and straw. Finds include fifteenth- sixteenth-century coarse-ware
pottery, decorated Cistercian Ware, vessel glass, and a silver sixpence of Elizabeth, 1564. The footings of a timber
and stone built house (House XI) were located under the foundations of the S. range, associated occupation deposits
produced quantities of thirteenth-fourteenth-century pottery.
, (SE 09442529) Excavations in Gaol Lane by J. A. Gilks disclosed the extensively robbed foundations of a
house (House XII) 9 m wide and exceeding 7 m in length, with walls 1 m thick, of coursed rubble. Two distinct
‘occupation’ horizons were noted, the lower contained thirteenth-fourteenth-century East Pennine gritty-ware
pottery, and the upper late-fifteenth to mid-sixteenth-century coarse wares and sherds of Cistercian Ware cups.
A pit 1 m diameter and 1 m deep, contained yellow glazed wares of Pule Hill type, c. 1650.
HIGHBURTON, W.R. (SE 193135) J. A. Gilks and J. Middleton of the Tolson Memorial Museum, made a
photographic survey, prior to demolition, of a fifteenth-century aisled house in Moor End Road. Only the centre
bay and part of the aisle on the SE. side of a presumedly three-bay house, survived. One complete truss remained;
between the principal rafters and the tie-beam were vertical studs with clay and straw infill. The ends of the tie-
beam were supported on vertical posts, and originally braces, probably curved, had spanned the angles between the
tie-beam/posts and the posts/arcade-plate.
HUDDERSFIELD, W.R. BIRKBY (SE 134185) J. A. Gilks and J. Middleton, for the Tolson Memorial Museum,
made a survey of Storths Farm, prior to demolition. The house comprised the remains of a sixteenth-century timber-
framed L-plan aisled house. The walls were of vertical studding between the arcade-plate/middle rail/sill-beam on
the NW. side, whilst the SE. wall was of coursed rubble. The king-post type trusses supported recessed,
square-set ridge-pieces, secured by curved ridge braces. The tie-beams were supported on vertical posts set on sand-
stone stylobate blocks. Measured drawings have been prepared by N. Lunn, of the Huddersfield and District Archaeo-
logical Society.
HULL, E.R. (TA 30122842) Blackfriargate and High Street excavations by P. Armstrong, for Hull Museums
( Register 1972, p. 205) found (1) A late-thirteenth-century timber-framed aisled hall, 26-8 m by 13-4 m, on stone
foundations, with pebble floor and six stone column-bases surviving. (2) A late-thirteenth-century timber-framed
stone-paved hall, 22 m by 7-3 m, replaced c. 1400 by two buildings on chalk foundations and separated by a passage,
one 18 m by 7-3 m, the other 30 m by 6-7 m, the latter being sub-divided into three brick-built properties
subsequently. Thirteenth-fourteenth-century leather material was plentiful, including complete shoes, dagger
sheaths, and belts.
KILDALE, N.R. LITTLE KILDALE. (NZ 615093) M. M. Brown, for the Teesside Museum and Art Galleries
Service, reports a stone structure discovered and excavated before demolition. The foundations were well
constructed and there were two entrances. The floor levels at the N. end were ploughed away and there were no
remains of a cross wall. At the S. end a set of drains, channels, and a basin, set below the level of the foundations,
point to a semi-industrial use, possibly connected with tanning. Pottery found dates from the late-sixteenth to the
early-seventeenth-centuries.
KILNSEY, W.R. (SD 96986734) A. Raistrick reports a survey and excavation of Scarthcote, a Fountains Abbey
sheep-farm, by a small group of the Friends of the Craven Museum. Foundations only remain of a large rectangular
building, 60 ft. by 40 ft., with 2^ ft. walls of good stone; debris included several portions of stone roofing slates.
Excavation also commenced on a small house with a good doorway and well-flagged floor. A possibly medieval
pye-kiln probably used as a midden had fragments of fifteenth-century pottery under abundant seventeenth-century
ware. Site not identified but mentioned by name from 1450, and occupants named in parish registers from 1604
to 1690.
KILTON, N.R. KILTON CASTLE (NZ 703176) Excavation was continued by F. A. Aberg for the Adult Educa-
tion Department, Leeds University, ( Register 1972, p. 205). In the courtyard at the E. end the post-holes of a timber
building were found, with closely-set stakeholes marking the line of the wall. Close to the Keep two new apartments
were investigated, one of which may be the gatehouse to the Inner Courtyard. Only the latest levels were exposed,
confirming the decay of buildings in this area early in the sixteenth century.
LAUGHTON-EN-LE-MORTHEN, W.R. (SK 535891) T. G. Manby reports the surface find, after the filling-in
of Slade Hills Plantation, of a probably fifteenth-century iron knife-dagger with a bronze guard, 35 cm long with
tang, single-edged, with applied bronze shield mark. In Doncaster Museum.
148
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
LEDSTON, W.R. (SE 433280) E. Houlder reports watercourses and partial ruins of a watermill, probably one
mentioned as being in the village in Domesday Book. Much of the stonework is possibly medieval, with repairs in
red brick of the eighteenth century. r
LEPTON, W.R. (SE 206150) T. P. Wild and R. A. Varley found an occupation site with a general scatter of
East Pennine gritty-wares of thirteenth to early fourteenth century date. Excavations continuing.
MIRFIELD, W.R. (SE 185213) J. A. Gilks excavating for the Tolson Memorial Museum inside the Yew Tree,
an aisled house ot the late-fourteenth century, found thirteenth to seventeenth-century coarse-ware pottery and
sherds of Cistercian Ware cups, also the base, stem, and knop of a late-sixteenth-century short-stemmed wine-glass,
a glass bead, and part of a glass (?) stirring rod. Finds in the Tolson Memorial Museum.
, (SE 185213) D. J. H. Michelmore reports a possibly fourteenth-century single-aisled house Yew Tree
Cooper Bridge, recorded by the Y.A.S. Medieval Section. Three bays survive but the original plan is not certain as no
timber-training remains below wall and arcade-plate level, however, rafter seatings on arcade-plate re-used as a
tie-beam, suggest a hipped cross wing. The original steeply pitched, hipped roof of common-rafter type, with
collars, some double, but no longitudinal stiffening, had been rebuilt as a gabled roof in the post-medieval period
at a lower pitch with inserted trusses, purlins, and ridge-piece, leaving only the south gable tie-beam in place. The
house has since been considerably altered to render it fit for habitation.
POLLINGTON-CUM-BALNE, W.R. (SE 623175) E. Houlder reports that P. Laycock noted a possibly
medieval beehive quern in perfect preservation dredged from the River Went. Diameter 42 cm, height 28 cm
the iron bush in the base still intact.
SANDAL MAGNA, W.R. SANDAL CASTLE (SE 338182) The full extent of the thirteenth-century stone
castle was excavated, including the well-preserved main bridge, and a complex series of buildings below the
Richard III range investigated, under the direction of P. Mayes, for the Sandal Castle Joint Excavation Committee.
The position of the twelfth-century timber castle, built on the original ground surface, c. 2-4 m below the
thirteenth-century courtyard levels was established. This overburden was removed from the whole of the bailey
showing a fine timber-built aisled hall, a kitchen, bread-oven, etc., built along the inner edge of a truncated bailey
bank 3-6 in to 4-5 m high. Site conservation and presentation are well in hand, stonework consolidated, floors
and paths laid, grassing contracts placed, and work started on the display area (stage 1).
SCARBOROUGH, N.R. (TA 043887) Miss D. Winnett reports that P. Farmer directing, the Scarborough and
District Archaeological Society, following demolitions, excavated to ascertain the lines of the a.d. 1225 and 1745
defences, and the position and size of the church and St. Thomas’s hospital. The 1745 defences, which cut into the
1225 ditch and rampart were located, and also the hospital on two phases of Dark-Age buildings. The 1180 footings
had been re-used c. 1575* The church foundations came to light later during building work. It appears there was
no town wall at this point, reliance being placed on the church wall for defence. (See Scarborough & Dist. Arch.
Soc. Trans., Vol. 2 No. 16).
SCARBOROUGH, N.R. (TA 049885) A highly decorated tubular-spouted fourteenth-century jug, and a
thirteenth-century ovoid jug, loaned to the Scarborough Museum, were found during the building of the convent
in Queen Street, opened in 1886. (A full report by R. A. Varley is forthcoming in Scarborough & Dist. Arch. Soc.
Trans.).
SHEFFIELD, W.R. (SK 375865) Excavations at Sheffield Manor by Miss P. Beswick for Sheffield City Museums,
continued in the outer court. ( Register 1972, p. 206). Three walls have been located and the fourth, presumably, is
under Manor Lane, to the south. The building is 21 m wide E.toW., and at least 14 m N. to S. Square tower footings
at the NE. corner match those of the NW. corner tower previously found, which contains a complex system of
drains and pipe channels of several phases. Timber-slot traces are all that remains of internal features. Finds include
deer bones, decorated Cistercian ware, and Rawmarsh kiln type coarse-gritted ware.
SKELTON-IN-CLEVELAND, N.R. (NZ 652187) Continued excavation by B. C. Martin for the Guisborough
Archaeological Society ( Register 1972, p. 206), has revealed the northward continuation of the cobbled pavement
and walling previously discovered. A paved internal floor to the W. has a hearth area and is bounded to the N. by
a wall footing 1 m thick running on a roughly E-W line for 3-25 m. Traces of a further wall 3 m long on an E -W
axis were found. The 2^75 gap between the E — W walls had traces of cobbling and suggests an enclosed yard. Pottery
confirms the continued use of the site from the fourteenth to the early-seventeenth century.
SKIPSEA, E.R. (TA 169558) The base of a fifteenth-century jug with thumbprints, made at West Cowick, of
Humber Basin ware, was found in the bailey area of the Skipsea motte and bailey castle by R. A. Varley. Now in the
Scarborough Museum.
SKIPTON, W.R. (SD 998521) A late-fourteenth early fifteenth-century jug base, with a light-green glazed
exterior, and decorated by thumbprints, was found during the construction of the clinic, opened in 1965. (A full
report by R. A. Varley is forthcoming in J. Huddersfield & District Arch. Soc.).
STAINSBY, N.R. (NZ 465152) Observation by F. A. Aberg of a trench dug for a new water-main noted pottery
and ashlar adjacent to the site of Stainshy Hall. It would appear that the last buildings were erected in the sixteenth
or seventeenth century and that these were pulled down in the nineteenth century.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER
149
STAXTON, E.R. (TA 024795) A small quantity of moderately gritty, twelfth-century pottery, was recovered
from a quarry by P. Giles and R. A. Varley. Sherds include angular rims and bases. Now in the Scarborough Museum.
THIRSK N.R. (NZ 428819) Observation of excavations on the site of Thirsk Castle by F. A. Aberg and M. Brown
for the Dorman Museum, Teesside, resulted in the location of the bailey bank. It appeared to be approximately
9 m wide, but had been levelled to a height of only 1-22 m. Stone cobbling was found in one area beneath the bank
but no finds were made to assist dating.
TICKHILL W.R. (SK 592919) Excavations for the Department of the Environment and Doncaster Museums
bv P. C. Buckland and R. F. Smith, on two burgage plots between the church and castle, produced no occupation
evidence before the fourteenth century. In the late-medieval period the southern part was cobbled, but any structures
must lie beneath the buildings on Westgate. Pottery included sherds of two Rhenish stoneware vessels. Evidence
implies that the plots represent a late-medieval or early post-medieval allotment of land and that the tenements
around the former market-place represent the original nucleus of the town, perhaps the Domesday borough o
Dadsley.
WAKEFIELD W R (SE 33112112) B. Donaghey reports that members ol the Y.A.S. Medieval Section recorded,
before demolition, a complex of buildings constituting the properties 73, 73^ and 73B Northgate and 3-4 Strafford
Square. The surviving middle portion of an H-shaped hall c. 1500 and a seventeenth-century building had been
joined by an eighteenth-century building, to form an overall F-shaped complex, of brick except the stone facade
of the hall. Ground plans and a recording of the unusual eighteenth-century roof structure was obtained. The report
has been lodged with the Y.A.S.
(SE 33112112) P. Mayes reports excavations on the site of the recently demolished buildings, byj. Goodband.
Within the S. wing a rockcut storage pit was found, and at the rear, two wells, one contemporary with the eighteent -
century building, and the other with the c. 1500 H-shaped hall. Further digging uncovered a late eighteenth-
century rubbish pit containing many vessels in Leeds, Halifax and Pearl wares.
(SE 3255203 5) K . S. Bartlett for the Wakefield Historical Society reports a survey of a timber-framed house
in Westgate prior to demolition. The house consisted of two buildings. Building A consisted of three bays 5-64 m
by 3-34 m, with curved braces from principal to wallplate and tie-beam. The roof had four tie-beams, the two
centre ones supporting crown posts and a collar purlin. The gables had been replaced by modern brickwork.
Building B consisted of two bays 5-64 m by 2-74 m, its three trusses having single side purlins supported by raked
queen-struts. In neither building was there a ridge-piece, the common rafters being braced by collars.
WHARRAM PERCY, E.R. (SE 858642) J. G. Hurst, excavating for the D.M.V.R.G. and the Department of the
Environment (Register 1972 p. 206) found the E. end of the twelfth-century SE chapel of St. Martin s church, this
was shortened in the fourteenth century; underneath were found three corallian limestone late-Saxon grave s abs
with head and foot stones, two decorated with simple ridges, the third with a plain expanded cross ; an ear ler
grave contained a styca of Ethelred II (840-9). The N. aisle excavation was completed. The mill-dam excavations
produced evidence for two timber periods prior to the thirteenth-century stonefaced daim A medieval headland and
an earlier lynchet were sectioned and a second-century Roman ditch located west of the village.
YORK. The York Archaeological Trust under the direction of P. V. Addyman and J. B. Whitwell has
excavated several sites with the following findings:
ALDWARK (SE 606521) At the Ebor Brewery site, a church, perhaps St. Helen-on-the-Walls (demolished
late sixteenth century), was traced through at least five major phases from c. twelfth century onwards. The cemetry
containing perhaps 1500 burials, is also under excavation. The project will provide a sample mtra-mutal parish
church and an urban population sample.
> BEDERN (SE 605521) At the Wm. Wrights site a small area excavation revealed late and post-medieval
buildings flanking an alley (Baker’s Yard) still existing above ground nearby. The buildings apparently include
narrow shops and a bakery.
( FALKLAND STREET (SE 601514) Post-medieval disturbance made it difficult to recognise structures
but large numbers of fmd-rich pits testified to heavy occupation nearby.
} KENT STREET (SE 608512) At the cattle market site a sample extra-mural area was examined. This area is
clearly outside the Fishergate suburb, and has been relatively open from early medieval times. Successive wells,
one with a well-house, were found.
; SKELDERGATE (SE 602514) A sample area SW. of Skeldergate traced the history of a complete tenement
from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. Tenement boundaries were the same throughout, but a variety of
successive large structures were revealed.
, ALDWARK (SE 60655250) See Romano-British section.
150
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
POST-MEDIEVAL
EASINGTON N R. (NZ 752197) S. K. Chapman for the Teesside Industrial Archaeology Group reports an
excavation at the Boulby Alum Works, New Works Site, which partly cleared a building 3 „? square north of the
Tie flo of clay pantiles were stacked in one corner and in the oppos.te corner traces of timber on !he
shale floor. Nearby four large rectangular iron plates were found with nails, scrap lead, etc. A rectangular sandstone
sheltered5 me^building.35 ^ Y d“red' ThiS “ in “ eXpOSed P°Siti°n near the cliff ed8e “d could b<= >
ATHERSTONE, W.R. (SE 428206) E Houlder reports that J. Blackburn and C. Morgan recovered
numerous clay pipe fragments, 90 per cent of which are mid-seventeenth-century types. Concentration of such
material from one period suggests a Civil War camp site of Parliamentary troops for the siege of Pontefract Castle
KILDALE, N.R. LITTLE KILDALE (NZ 615093) See Medieval section.
KILNSEY, W.R. (SD 96986734) See Medieval section.
LEDSTON, W.R. (SE 433280) See Medieval section.
SCARBOROUGH, N.R. (TA 043887) See Medieval section.
STAINSBY, N.R. (NZ 465152) See Medieval section.
WAKEFIELD, W.R. (SE 33112112) See Medieval section.
YORK, ALDWARK (SE 60655205) See Romano-British section.
the direct,on ofR v- Addyman a,,d J- B- whitwdi has ™d
.ALDWARK (SE 606521) At the Ehor Brewery site part of the seventeenth-century Aldwark house and
quantities of contemporary artefacts were found. A fine thirteenth-century seal of Snarrus the toll collector from this
house must have been an antique.
— FALKLAND STREET. (SE 601514) The SE. side of Duke's Hall, the residence of Sir Thomas Fairfax,
later remodelled by the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was uncovered.
- , SKELDERGATE (SE 602514) ,The seventeenth-nineteenth-century layout of the house owned by Robert
Carr, the York architect, in the 1760 s was examined.
MISCELLANEOUS
BAINBRIDGE, N.R. ASH GILL (SD 895864) D. Hall reports an area of enclosures and platforms strung out
ng a gritstone terrace and related to an obsolete field system. Dating uncertain at present.
GOLDSBOROUGH, W.R. (SE 377554) Mrs. R. Hartley reports a complete beehive quern, bottom half 0-38 m
n6g,’mC1^r o'' 1 m’ flat baiC 15 Cm by 13 T°P h3lf °'22 m hl§h’ circumference 0-9 m narrowing to
0-62 m at top. Opening 13 cm diameter, 10 cm deep. Found and retained by C. Voakes.
> (SE 376556) Mrs R. Hartley reports a brick-lined well.
GRINTON N.R. LOW WHITA (SE 00259832) E. Cooper reports a hillock with ditches on three sides, with a
fourth side dropping steeply to the river Swale, at How Hill.
^^ShKERTN/‘R‘iiyZ,9r08°3?i- ,A fine-gramed sandstone or granite rubbing stone was found on the surface by
S. White on Fylingdales Moor. With an almost circular rubbing face of 7-5 cm diameter and 7-5 cm long.
LE^°LM’^- (N5 ?40In6) TW° sPear-shaPed US5’ °fir°n were found by S. White on the surface between
MiMe Rigg and Three Howes Rigg, one 17-7 cm by 8-2 cm by 3-8 cm deep and weighing 1-36 kg, the other roughly
the same size but weighing 1-05 kg. & ;
MUKER, N R, (SD 92309825) E. Cooper reports irregularly-shaped enclosures above Calvert Houses covering
an area roughly no 111 by 91 m, probably old field sites. h
REETH, N.R. (NY 966013) E. Cooper reports that in a natural slack up the hillside beyond Old Gano Smelt Mills
cattleencloJure^11 remf°rCed Wlth Stones and turf fllling- Signs of a hut citcle at the NW. end, probably used as a
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER
151
, REETH LOW MOOR (NZ 005004) An oval enclosure, 75 m by 64 m, between Calver Hill and Cringley
Hill at 1400 ft. O.D. ,is reported by E. Cooper. The banks are made of two rows of boulders with turf filling. A
large scraper was found nearby.
AERIAL RECONNAISSANCE AND INTERPRETATION
CHECK-LIST OF DITCHED SQUARES: NE. AREA OF E. RIDING
(from inspection of Air Photographs)
by H. G. Ramm
In this instalment a smaller area is covered, since the barrows are more numerous, the north half of the Wapentake
of Dickering, north of the Sledmere-Bridlington road, including Boynton, but excluding Rudston. The list is again
arranged by parishes in alphabetical order, and air photographs are prefixed by a number according to source —
(1) R.A.F. verticals; (2) Cambridge University; (3) National Monuments Record; (4) Ordnance Survey;
(5) Yorkshire Archaeological Society. Grid references beginning with 9 are in 100 km square SE, otherwise they are
in square TA.
BEMPTON
Metloiv Hill, 2023729 6, 20257301, 9 and 12 m, no pits, close to round barrow, (4) 69/047, 202.
BOYNTON
W. of Sands Wood, 12296700, 10 m, no pit, crossed by ditch of enclosure, (2) ART73-4, ARZ23-4.
NLP. of Sands Wood, 12336749, 3 in line N-S, 10-11 m. central pit in N. square, S. square crossed by pit alignment,
(2) BEG49-51.
Binsdale Farm, 12546873, 11 m, no pit, (2) BHE10, (3) 1268/1, 116.
BRIDLINGTON
Flamborough, Metlow Hill, 21927202, 7-6 m, central pit, close to round barrow, (4) 69/047,042
BURTON FLEMING
The concentration of square barrows along the valley of the Gypsey Race extends into Rudston parish. Most of
the barrows excavated by Dr. Stead and described by him for convenience as belonging to the Burton Fleming
cemetery are in Rudston, and will appear here under Rudston.
SE. of the village, 08737105-09487144-09177103-08897183, 79 squares, 3 rectangles and 2 rings, 3-14 m, 36 with
central pits, (2) AGE59, BCF64, 66-8, BCM19, 21, 25-31, BDY6, 8, 15-8, BEG20-3, K17W69-70, (3) 0871/1-2,
251-4, I3, 114-6, 0872/1, 243-4, 0970/5, 16-9, 16, 2-3, 0971/1-2, 227-31, / 3, 246-7, / 4, 12, / 4—6, 108-12, (5) 0871/5,
20A, 16, 21 A, / 8, 13A, / 10, 15, / II, 16, / 12, 23, / 13, 24.
E. and NE. of the village, 09387191-09487202, the main concentration but extending W. to 08857202, E. to
10287257, N. to 09377332, 120 squares, 18 pits without visible ditches and 6 small rings, ranging from 2-12-5 m,
but 101 between 3 and 6 m, 26 without graves, (2) BCF67, 69-71, BCM19, 22, 24, 33-4, 81, BDY4, 8, 10, BEG15,
16, K17W69-70, (3) 0871/1, 251-2, 0872/1-2, 243-5, / 3, 248-50, 0970/5, 14-17, /6, 3, 0971/3, 246-7.
W. of Argam Lane end, 09437023-09377039, 27 squares in approximately N-S rows with 3 outliers to E., 4-10 m,
with central pits, 22 excavated by Dr. Stead ( Register 1972, p. 198). 09117017-08887002, 1 ring and 14 scattered
squares, 4-25 m, most with central pits. 09187080, 09357060, 09407058, 3 isolated squares to N. of rest, the first
14 m, the others 4-5 m. 08887086, a pair conjoined, 10 and 12-5 m, smaller S. one with central pit, (2) BCF38,
BCM76-7, 79-80, BDY13, +7, (3) 0970/5, 19.
Maidens Grave, (a) N. of henge, 09597065 and to E. 5, 4-5-10-5 m, central pits, 09697071-09707080, 11 squares and
1 ring, 3-5-9 m, central pits, 09737065-09857065-09887070, 16 squares and 2 rings, 2-5-10-5 m, most with central
pits, (2) AGE56-7, 64, BHE3-5, K17W72. (b) S. of henge, 09497043, 2, 9 and 12 m, central pits, centred on
09597051, 8, 4'5-7-5 m, central pits, 09697048, 9 m. central pit, 09847054, 6 m, central pit, 09777034, 4, 4-5-12 in,
one without central pit, (2) BCM77, 79-80, K17W72, (3) 0970/7, 131-2. (c) SE. of henge, two pairs centred at
10007067 and 09997058 respectively, each pair divided by E. ditch of cursus, 12-13-5 m» no pits, 10057042, 10087047,
10257053, three isolated squares, 6-7-5 m> two with central pits, (2) K17W80, (3) 0970/5, 20.
Bell Slack, 10797241-09957094, 236 squares including two in Grindale parish, 32 pits without visible ditches, 3 rings,
2-18 m, 24 without pits, some with more than one, (2) DP72-4, ACK15-16, AGE61, 65, BCF75, 77, BCM36-42,
48, 82, 84, BCN37-8, BDY18, BHD90-1, K17W77-80, K17U212-3, (3) 0970/5, 17-20, 16, 2-3, 1071/1-3, 232-8.
FOLKTON
Sellers Off Barn, 03847843, single square, 9 m, central pit, 03857840, four in line, 4-6 m, central pits, (4) 67/215, 254.
Near Elf Howe, 04267733, single square, 6 m, no pit, (4) 67/215, 225.
Flixton Carr, centred on 04288079, 7 squares with central pits and 40 pits without ditches, (4) 67/215, 303.
West Flotmanby Wold, 07097861, 5, 6-13 m, 2 with central pits, (2) BCN34.
1 S2
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
FOXHOLES
Butterwick, 98617095-98937094, 4, 4-6-6-7 m, central pits, (2) K17U205, K17W68.
N. of Boythorpe, 99567228, 6 m, central pit, (2) BCN23, AZB1-6.
S. of Boythorpe, 00147194-00197193, 5, 4-5-12 m, (2) K17W66.
Dencils Slack, 00197242-002572 66, 70 squares, 15 pits without visible ditches, 3 rings, 3-6-12 m, mostly with central
pits, in rows, (2) BCF91, BCG3, 5-6, BCN8, 13, 21, BDY57-60, K17U207, (3) 0072/1-2, 90-3, / 3, 239-41.
E. of Boythorpe, centred on 00487215, 7 at 6 m, 1 at 12 m, most with pits, (3) 0071/1-3, 87-9.
N. of Foxholes, centred on 00957348, 4 squares and 1 ring, 9-12 m, no pits, (2) BCG7, BCN4, (3) 0173/1, 113-4.
5. of Ganton Dale House, 01517446, ploughed-down mound, 12 m, ditched square, (4) 67/215, 154, 69/046, 067,
01097452, 4-6 m, central pit, (4) 69,046, 067.
Above Foxholes Bottom, 02387293, 2, 7-6 m, (2) BCF97.
GANTON
Potter Brompton Wold, 97597555-98277586, 5, 3-3-6 m, 3 with central pits, (4) 67/215, 208-10. 98617610-98827602,
27 squares, some in rough rows but mainly scattered, 2-7 m, most with central pits, (3) 9975/3, 365, (4) 67/215, 208.
Windle Beck, 99027830, 5, 3 m, no pits, (4) 67/215, 261.
Above Ganton Dale, 00617484-00687482, 9, 4-25-8-75 m, 7 with central pits. 00747457-00897446, 7 squares and 4
rings, 4-25-15 m, 6 with central pits, (4) 67,215, 152.
Ganton Wold, 99787516-99837516, 9, 4‘5~6 m, 2 with central pits, (3) 9975 /i, 347-9, /2, 253-4, / 3,356-7, (4) 67/215,
206, 2 outliers at 99547536, 99567537, 4’5 m, no pits, (3) 9975,2, 350-3, /3, 358-60, (4) 67/215, 206.
Ganton Dale Head, 00087571-00157572-00277546-00327557, 56 squares, 2 rings, 2-5-4’5 m, many with central pits,
(3) 0075/2, 369-70, / 3, 37i, / 5, 373, /6, 374-
GRINDALE
NW. of East Leys, centred on 14257111, at least 50 squares, rings and pits, 4-5 m, (2) ANH23-4, ART68-9,
(3) 1470/3, 368-71.
E. of East Leys. 14867038-15537073, 17 squares and 1 ring, 3-13-7 m, (2) ART63-6, ARZ12, (Department of the
Environment Archaeological Excavations 1972, 38-9).
HUNMANBY
Fleming Dale and Cans Dale, 06387605, 5 m, central pit, (4) 67/215/196. 06837572, 5 m, central pit, attached to dike.
07007585, 5 squares, 4-7I m. 07517606, two, 2f and 3f m. 06877608, two, 6 and 7^ m, central pits. 06937619, three,
3 1 m, central pits. 06627612-06847618, five in line, 5 m, with central pits.
Green Cliff, 06497505, 5, 3-4 m, central pits. (4) 67/215, 162.
Green Cliff to Grange Farm, 06697516-07057503, 35 squares and 9 rings, 2-1 1 m, central pits, some with more than
one pit, (4) 67/215, 162.
W. side of Cansdale, 06847430, single square, 06777436, 7 squares, 06657437, 6 squares, 06647443, 10 squares, 3-6 m,
most with pits, (4) 67/215, 162.
Cansdale, valley floor, 06877487—06847460, 06807443—06827442, 07117435, 06977465—07017460, 53 squares and
small rings, 2-5-6 m, (4) 67,215, 162.
E. side of Cansdale, 07057468, 35 squares, 07207443, 43 squares, 07047482, 3 squares, with additional pits without
ditches in the first two areas, 3-6 m, (4) 67/215, 162.
South Dale, 08177520, 2, 3 m, 08427601, 5 m, 08757615, 7-5 m, 08687629, 4, 5 m, all with central pits, (4) 67/215, 231.
Humanby Station, 10257665, chariot burial ( Y.A.J. , XIX 482). 10397706-10467700-10477687-10387683-10337690,
38 squares, m, in rows, most with central pits, (4) 67/215, 233.
Bartindale, 10427372, 4-5 m, central pit, 10827382, 28 squares, 3-14 m, most with pits, (2) ARV2, BDYi, 3, BCF80-1,
(3) 1073/1-2, 263-7, (4) 67/215, 168.
Caddy Barf, 10997442, 3, 3-5-7 m, (4) 67/215, 168. 11067373-11 147375, 5 in line, 3 m. 11 177375, pair, 5 and 6 m,
central pits. 1 13 17361-1 1437364, at least 40 squares and pits without ditches, in rows, 5-6 m, 11287370-1 1487373,
22 squares and 1 ring, partly in rows, 4-6-5 m, (4) 67/215, 170. 11487393-11597391, n scattered squares, 4-9 m, (3)
1173/2-4, 288-92. 11207425-11367415, 4 squares with central pits, 3-6 m, and two adjacent pits without ditches
(4) 67/215, 170.
Bartindale Village, 11087287, 3 with central pits, 15-18 m, (1) 106G/UK/1032, 4066, (3) 1072/1-2, 268-71.
REIGHTON
Reighton Field, 12777435-12887430, 7 squares and two rings, 2-4-10-7 m, no pits, (4) 67,215, 172.
Beacon Field, 14137383, 12 m, no pit, (4) 67/215, 174.
Speeton Moor, 15867465, 10-7 m, no pit, (4) 67/215, 175.
THWING
Octon Lodge, 01266963, 10-5 m, pit (2) ARY67, (4) 69/047, 091.
Paddock Hill, 02807071, 12 m, no pit, (2) ARV22, (3) 0370/1, 77-8. 02847076-02837074, 4, 2-5-10 m, no pits, (3)
0370,1, 77-8, (4) 69/047, 087.
SW. of Glebe Cottage, 03617134-03657137, 6 with central pits, 3-5 m, and at least 6 pits without ditches, (2)
AUU20, 24-5, ARU31, 42.
Syndale, 03917091, 03947093, 3, 9 m, 2 with pits, (2) AYE76.
Skipper Lane, centred on 03147183, 6 rings and 4 squares, 6-20 m, (2) ARU28, AYE78, 81-2.
SE. of Wold Cottage, 05087206, 7 m, no central pit, (3) 0571/1, 4.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER
153
WILLERBY
Binnington Wold, 00407613, 9 m, 00427610, 7 m, (3) 0077/1, 138-9*
Well Slack, 01077710-01117703, 4, 3 -6-7-6 m, central pits.
Binnington Ness, 01627494, 01627561, 2, 9 1 with central pit, (4) 67/215* *54-
Staxton Wold, 01677779-01747782, 3, 7-6-10-7 m, no pits, (4) 67/215, 258.
JV. of Cotton Dale, 02877691, 02897664, 2, 3-6 and 6 m, 1 with pit, (4) 67/215, 223.
BRIEF REPORT ON RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FLYING
by D. N. Riley
Aerial reconnaissance and survey of parts of the Vale of York and surrounding country was continued, on behalf
of the Y.A.S. Aerial Archaeology Committee, in the summer of 1973 by the writer, flying with W. G. Edwards
in an Auster aircraft, and with J. Pickering in a Cessna. The notes given below summarise some of the results,
supplemented by unpublished information from previous years’ flying.
1. Western foot of the Wolds
The first reports of extensive cropmarks on the sandy land below the western escarpment of the YColds were made
by J. N. Hampton (National Monuments Record Air Photographs Unit), who flew over the area in the dry summer
of 1970. The present writer examined the same area in I97C !972 an<^ J973* and photographs taken in I973»
combined with others kindly made available by J. N. Hampton, have enabled a preliminary survey to be prepared
of cropmarks in South Cliffe and Hotham. The formation of cropmarks in this vicinity seems to be even more
dependent on the weather than in other parts of Yorkshire. Nothing was seen in 1972, which is hard to understand,
because quite clear marks were seen in 1971 an<^ I973* In this area, as in others, it is likely to be a number of years
before a full picture can be assembled of the sites discovered from the air. In the following summary all grid
references are in the 100 km square SE.
Photograph by D. N. Riley
Plate I. Cropmarks in South Cliffe (SE 872358), 30 June 1973.
154
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Photograph by D. N. Riley
Plate II. Cropmarks in South Driffield (SE 668393), 30 June 1973.
Photograph by D. N. Riley
Plate III. Cropmarks at Parlington (SE 424368) formed by lines of laid corn, 22 July 1973.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER
155
Fig. 1. Cropmarks in South Cliffe and Hotham, East Riding.
156
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
South Clijfe. 866372 (Fig. 1, A). Complex of enclosures, mainly rectangular, and 3 parallel curved ditches.
To NW. and SE. probable field boundary ditches. 872358 (Fig. 1, B and Plate I). Lanes or drove-ways with adjacent
enclosures and a circle c. 10 m.
Hotham. 878347 (Fig. 1, C) Many rectangular enclosures, often with several parallel ditches, perhaps indicating
recutting, 6 circles, c. 5 m. 878335 (Fig. 1, D). Probable area of irregular shaped fields, some with double ditches,
one circle, c. 5 m.
Other cropmarks are known to show under suitable conditions in the country running N. and NW. from South
Cliffe at the foot of the Wolds. Two interesting examples, photographed in 1971, are:
Pocklington. 808482. System of rectangular enclosures and some probable square barrows. 809488. Large
rectangular enclosure, with complex ditch system, and a drove-way to the S.; unfortunately this site is being
built over.
Skipwith and surrounding parishes
Between the Derwent and the Ouse, an area centred on the village of Skipwith, has a similar light soil to the
western foot of the Wolds and under suitable conditions shows large areas of cropmarks, and good photographs
were taken in June 1973, though it is interesting to note that they were absent in 1972.
Traces of a network of ditches, often forming rectangular enclosures and probably the remains of early field
systems, have been photographed at the following places:
Thorganby. 664405-665403, 669405-671408, 674408 (small circle also seen), 676405.
Skipwith. 645378, 659389, 659392, 664391.
North Duffield. 668397-670402 (the best developed cropmarks [Plate II]).
Two small squares at North Duffield, 668397, and Riccall, 638373* probably are square barrows, belonging
to the groups of such barrows on Skipwith Common, and Thorganby Common, reported by I. M. Stead
( Ant.Journ . XLI, pp. 48-51).
Fig. 2. Cropmarks in Barton-le-Street and Slingsby, North Riding.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER
157
Cliffe. 664359. A circle c. 15 m, within a square enclosure. Similar cropmarks have been seen elsewhere, for
example, at Burradon, Northumberland, where the site was excavated in 1968-9, and a large circular house foun
(Archaeol. Aeliana XLVI, p. 64, PI. VIII, 2; XLVIII, pp. 5i~95)-
3. Northern Slopes of Howardian Hills ,
A large semicircle of double, triple, and quadruple ditches S. of Barton-le-Street village encloses about 200 acres
on Barton Heights (Fig. 2). This land must have been under the plough for a long time and the field boundaries
appear to preserve the line of strips in a former open field, mention should be made of the large bank and ditch which
survives as an earthwork in a nearby wood and runs for a considerable distance along the hill top. At 71 745,
of the village is a double concentric circle, near a ditch system, and in the adjacent parish of Slingsby, at 702747, a
small group of square barrows and several parallel ditches. Both sites are on sandy land at the northern foot of the
Howardian Hills, and were photographed in 1971 ; much more may be hoped for in this region, but present know-
ledge is recorded on Fig. 2.
4-
Magnesian Limestone Belt between Doncaster and Wetherby
Cropmarks have been seen on this country in each of the years 1971, 1972, and 1973. In July 1973 a few new sites
were recorded.
Wothersome. 395427. Line of Roman road shown by cropmarks on side ditches, probable field boundaries at
right-angles.
Parlington. 424368. Large groups of enclosures, which requires further examination (Plate III).
Aberford. 424376. Another sub-rectangular enclosure, which extends the site at 423377, mentioned in the previous
year’s report ( Register 1972, p. 210).
Huddleston with Newthorpe. 454338. Sub-rectangular enclosure attached to double ditch, perhaps a drove-road.
Barrington. 482192. Two adjacent enclosures of rounded shape.
Kirk Smeaton. 501 147. Rectangular enclosure with internal sub-divisions, very near Doncaster to Castleford Roman
road, one end recently cut by a pipeline trench.
Flying and photographic costs were covered by the Aerial Archaeology Committee and by Kodak Ltd., to whom
acknowledgement must be made. ,
1971 and 1972 photographs have already been deposited in the Society s library at Claremont and i973 photo-
graphs will be added to the collection.
158
ARCHIVAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES:
BOOK REVIEWS
ARCHIVE NOTES
By D.J. H. Michelmore1
Farming records.
The University ot Reading and the Institute of Agricultural History have been engaged in the preparation of a
guide to farm records. The volume of such records has probably never been great, firstly because men of yeoman
rank and below had no need to keep complex records to transact their business and secondly because such records
as they did keep have had less chance of surviving than those of great estates. The farming records in the society’s
collections, although not numerous, are of historical value.
The accounts of William Smith (MS 540), who farmed in the neighbourhood of Wistow, cover the period
1662-1665 for personal expenses, travel and farming, and personal expenses only for 1656. Robert Hoyland of
Hemingfield s accounts (MS 752)2 mostly contain disbursement from 1732-43. John Turner of Hopton kept a day-
book of expenditure (MS 757) which in time took the characteristics of a diary. It survives for 1732-37, 1747-50,
1 7 54 58 and 1760-74. The accounts of the Dyson family of Winter Hill, High Hoyland (MS 875), cover the period
I79i— 95> 1796—1801, 1806, 1810, 1815-29, 1832—35 and 1839—75. A number of vouchers also survive from 1791—
i812- The records of the Denison family of Rigton (MD 353) consist of accounts for 1808-30, the accounts of
Isaac A. Denison ot Dunkeswick for 1855-57 with a diary for 1883-93, accounts for purchase of beasts, 1886-93,
and sale of stone 1886-95, and Isaac Denison’s journal covering the period 1880-86 with various accounts for hens
and other stock, 1884-87.
YORKSHIRE PERIODICALS 1973
compiled by Audrey N. Gilroy
This bibliography contains entries for periodicals and record series published in Yorkshire. Periodicals
containing no material of historical interest have been omitted, but those covering the whole North of England
which normally carry Yorkshire material have been included, as have articles published in annual reports.
CLEVELAND AND TEESSIDE LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Bulletin, 19, 1972—73 —
The origins of East Cleveland and Rosedale ironstone miners from the 1871 census’, by B. J. D. Harrison.
Mining failures in Cleveland, no. 3- the Kildale mines, addendum’, by J. S. Owen. 'Angles in Northumbria (2):
history and place-names’, by W. Pearson.
I973 Quakers in Richmond and Swaledale’, by D. S. Hall. ‘Weights, measures and taxes in the coal
trade , by D. W? Pattenden. The Angel Room in Stockton’s Georgian tavern?’ by Mary Nattrass.
2I> 073 — ‘Recollections of a farm worker, part T, by Arthur Tweedy. ‘Mining failure in Cleveland, no. 4:
the Roxby estate , by J. S. Owen. Topcliffe Toll Booth’, by E. R. Jackson. ‘The glebe terriers of a moorland
village: Levisham’, by M. C. Holyoak.
COTTINGHAM LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Journal, 4, part 20, 1973 —
The Cottinghain Dramatic Society , by E.C.B. ‘Some recent Cottingham incumbants (continued): Revd A
Ferguson’, by H.R.W.
4, part 21, 1973— ‘Cottingham and the Civil War’, by M. A. Haxell.
4, part 22, 1973— ‘The Humber crossing’, by N.B. ‘Cottingham and the Civil War, part 2’, by M. A. Haxell.
4, part 23, 1973 Hospital history [Hull Royal Infirmary]’, by N.B. ‘Seventeenth century Cottingham — III ’
by M. A. Haxell.
[4, part 24, 1973 — nothing of historical interest].
CUSWORTH HALL MUSEUM, Publications, 8, South Yorkshire Journal, 4, 1973 —
‘Some notes on the early history of Denaby Main Colliery’. ‘The peat-cutting industry of South Yorkshire, part 2’.
EAST RIDING ARCHAEOLOGIST, 1, part 2,
‘Excavations on Walkington Wold, 1967-69’, by J. E. Bartlett and R. W. Mackey, ‘A late Bronze Age gold
bracelet from High Hunsley’, by J. E. Bartlett.
EAST YORKSHIRE LOCAL HISTORY SERIES, 29, 1972—
The Inland waterways of East Yorkshire, 1700-1900, by Baron F. Duckham
30, 1973 — The East Riding justices of the peace in the seventeenth century, by G. C. F. Forster.
1 The writer is indebted to Miss E. Johnston for work which contributed to the compilation of this note.
2 This manuscript also contains the accounts of Anthony Marshall, D.D., when at Trinity College, Cambridge,
1629-39, and as rector of Bottesford, Leicestershire, 1661-77.
ARCHIVAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: BOOK REVIEWS
159
HALIFAX ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, Transactions, 1971 —
‘Halifax attorneys (III)’, by C. D. Webster, ‘An early Lightcliffe terrier’, by Leslie Morgan, ‘Halifax deeds and
documents in the Lancashire County Record Office, 1335-1806’, by Leslie Morgan, ‘Little-known graveyards
[at Lightcliffe and Hipperholme]’, by Leslie Morgan. ‘The Halifax High Level Railway: early schemes’, by
J. Wild. ‘The Stocks family of Upper Shibden Hall’, by D. Warrington, ‘The Rt. Hon. Sir James Stansfeld, GCB,
PC, MP, LLB’, by A. Porritt. ‘Walkers of Crow Nest’, by Rowland Bretton. ‘The Carver family’, by Joyce B.
Donald. ‘Michael Holroyd Smith’, by A. Winston Bond.
HUDDERFIELD AND DISTRICT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, The Brigantian, 2, 1973—
‘The Brigantes’, by R. W. Feacham, ‘Some Celtic heads’, by Sidney Jackson. ‘Peat Moss: a North Riding
mesolithic workshop’, by David Clarke. ‘A neolithic occupation site at Castle Hill, Denby, near Huddersfield’,
by J. A Gilks. ‘Medieval jugs from Chester, Handsworth and Pontefract’, by Raymond A. Varley. ‘The lost looped
Palstave from the Shelf hoard, Halifax’, byj. A. Gilks.
HUNTER ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, Transactions, 10, part 2, 1973 —
‘Elizabeth Parkin and her investments, 1733-66: aspects of the Sheffield money market in the eighteenth
century’, by B. A. Holderness. ‘John Grayson, abas William Butterworth’, by W. E. Spencer. ‘The development
of a scientific community in Sheffield, 1790-1850: a network of people and interests’, by Ian Inkster. ‘The last five
years of the Sheffield guardians’, by B. J. Elliott. ‘Flint and chert implements from Froggatt, Derbyshire’, by
A. H. Henderson. ‘Flints from Totley Moor’, by A. H. Henderson. ‘Mesolithic material from Stanage barrows’,
by A. H. Henderson. ‘Laudian orders for South Yorkshire churches’, by John Addy. ‘Cattle plague in South
Yorkshire, 1746-57’, by G. G. Hopkinson.
KINGSTON UPON HULL CITY LIBRARIES, Local Studies Quarterly, 10, 1973—
‘Hull in 1872: some events of 100 years ago’.
[1 1 , 1973 — reviews only].
12, 1973 — ‘Documentary additions to the local collection [Winifred Holtby collection and Hull Teachers’
Association records]’.
LEEDS ARTS CALENDAR, 70, 1972—
‘[Temple Newsam]: the early Tudor house in the light of recent excavations’, by Richard Fawcett. ‘The
renaissance furniture from Bretton’, by Peter Brears. ‘Aspects of nineteenth century sculpture in Leeds, 2:
patronage of the Benjamin Gott family’, by T. F. Friedman. ‘Pugin furniture at Lotherton’, by Derek Linstrum.
‘Note on William Williams of Norwich’, by Alexandra Artley.
71, 1972 — ‘King’s Cathedrals' , by John Ingamells. ‘The Fulford collection of gold snuffboxes’, by A. D. P. Wells-
Cole. ‘James Gibb’s designs for domestic furniture’, by T. F. Friedman. ‘Ingram’s Palace, York’, by Christopher
Gilbert.
72, 1973 — ‘A noble magnificent statue [of Queen Anne, Leeds]’, by T. F. Friedman. ‘Gillows at Parlington’,
by Susan Bourne. ‘The Fulford collection of gold etuis’, by A. D. P. Wells-Cole. ‘A chest of drawers by Giles
Grendy’, by Christopher Gilbert. ‘Temple Newsam boundary stones’, by C. G. Gilbert],
ROTHERHAM MUNICIPAL MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS, 2, 1973—
Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York and Chancellor of England, by Gerald Hollis.
3, 073 — A journey round old Rotherham, by Freda Crowder.
SADDLEWORTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Publications, 1, 1972—
George Shaw of St. Chad’s, Saddleworth, 1810-1876: architect and church furnisher, by G. B. Howcroft.
SCARBOROUGH AND DISTRICT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, Research Reports, 8, 1972—
Cruck-framed buildings in Ryedale and Eskdale, by R. H. Hayes and J. G. Rutter.
SURTEES SOCIETY, Publications, 185, 1972 —
Parliamentary surveys of the bishopric of Durham, Vol. 2, edited by David A. Kirby.
THORESBY SOCIETY, Publications, 53, part 3, no. 118, 1973 (for 1972) —
‘The rise of James Kitson: trades union and Mechanics Institution, Leeds, 1826-1851’, by R. J. Morris.
‘The last monks of Kirkstall Abbey’, by Allister Lonsdale. ‘John Smeaton’, by C. A. Lupton, ‘Arthington Nunnery’,
by C. A. Lupton.
CITY OF YORK ART GALLERY QUARTERLY, 26. Preview 101, 19 73—
‘Jackson and Grant at York’, by John Ingamells.
Preview 102, 1973 — ‘Some Flaxman drawings at York’, by Norah Gillow.
Preview 103, 1973 — ‘John Cheere’s busts and statuettes from Kirkleatham Hall’, by Terry F. Friedman.
Preview 104, 1973 — ‘Gainsborough and Loutherbourg at York’, by Michael Clarke.
YORK GEORGIAN SOCIETY, Annual Report, 1973 —
‘The development of the rococo taste in English interiors and furnishings’, by Helena Hayward. ‘York in the
nineteenth century’, by E. M. Sigsworth, ‘Hovingham Hall’, by Marcus Worsley. ‘Denton Park, Ilkley’, by John
S. Miller.
i6o
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
UNIVERSITY OF YORK, BORTHWICK INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH, Borthwick Papers ,
43, 1973—
The pastoral structure of the Celtic church in Northern Britain, by G. W. O. Addleshaw.
44, 1973 — Henry Swinburne (?I55I-i624), civil lawyer of York, by J. Duncan Derrett.
YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, FAMILY HISTORY AND POPULATION STUDIES
SECTION, Newsletter, [1, 2, 1973 — nothing of permanent interest].
3, 1973 — ‘Work with parish registers’, and ‘Using a computor to obtain genealogies’, by Barbara H. Nuttall.
4, 1973 — ‘Some aspects of the population trend in pre-industrial England: family reconstruction from the parish
register of Braithwell [summary only]’, by Minoru Yasumoto. ‘The Yorkshire immigration [to Nova Scotia]’,
by Merilyn Thelander.
5, 073 — ‘[The Speight collection in Bradford Public Library]’, by H. Milner. ‘Work of the English surname
survey [summary only]’, by George Redmonds.
YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, LOCAL HISTORY STUDY SECTION, Bulletin, 8, 1973—
‘Appletreewick Low Hall folk museum’, by S. D. Brooks. ‘Nine men’s morris’, [by F. Fowler], ‘Industrial
archaeology: some recent work in the West Riding’, by J. Goodchild.
YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, PARISH REGISTER SECTION, Publications, 137, 1973
(for 1972)—
The parish register ofLythe, volumes I, II & III, 1634-1768 ( bishop’s transcripts 1619-1640), edited by M. W. Hansell.
YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, PREHISTORY RESEARCH SECTION, Bulletin, 11, 1973—
‘Excavation of the Grindale barrow group’, by T. G. Manby. [‘The papers of Frank Elgee’, by Rosa Hartley].
‘[Typology of contracted mouth accessory vessels in the North West]’, by Alan King. ‘Early Yorkshire antiquaries
[Ralph Thoresby and Richard Richardson]’, by Stephen Briggs.
YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, Record Series, 134, 072—
Yorkshire probate inventories, 1542-1689, edited by Peter C. D. Brears.
YORKSHIRE ARCHITECT, [28, 29, 30, 31, 1973 — nothing of historical interest],
32, 1973 — ‘Victorian Catholic churches’, by D. M. Chappell.
YORKSHIRE DIALECT SOCIETY, Summer Bulletin, 20, 1973 — ‘The poetry of F. A. Carter’, by Stephen Wade.
YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, Annual Reports, 1973 (for 1972)—
‘Archaeology in York, 1972’, compiled by the York Excavation Group. ‘The work of the York Archaeological
Trust, 1972’, by P. V. Addyman. ‘Early Norman coins in the Yorkshire Museum’, by Elizabeth Pirie. ‘Henry Hindley
& Son, clock and instrument makers of York’, byj. R. M. Setchell.
YORKSHIRE POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Publications, 6, 1972—
The postal history of Upper Wharf edale, Ilkley and Otley, by Ronald Ward.
BOOK REVIEWS
EDITED BY IAN H. GOOD ALL
G. W. O. Addleshaw, The Pastoral Structure of the Celtic Church in North Britain, York: Borthwick Institute of
Historical Research: Borthwick Papers No. 43, 1973, pp. 30, illus. , 3op.
In earlier papers of this series, Nos. 3 and 6, which have suitably run into more than one edition, the Dean of
Chester surveyed the development of the parochial system in England and abroad. Here a variation on the theme
is extended to the north and the west. Historians have quite often underlined the differences between the Roman and
Celtic branches of the church. The Dean will rightly have none of this; in the first paragraph he explains that the
distinction lay not in doctrine but in ritual, marriage discipline and pastoral structure. As to ritual, by the end of the
eighth century the problems of Easter and the tonsure had been settled - though mention might have been made of
the baptismal formula that Augustine of Canterbury had found troublesome, and seems to tell against the story of
Rhun ab Urbgen baptising King Edwin (p. 3). Changes in the method of pastoral care, which continued down to the
time of Margaret of Scotland and Thor Longus, arose to some extent from the peculiar structure of Celtic monasticism
where originally a bishop had been subordinate to his abbot. At a later date an abbot might be a married layman,
presiding over a familia of the Cuthbertine sort; on the other extreme, pastoral work is found in the hands of
anchorites. In this survey a wide and impressive range of evidence is brought forward: documentary sources are
complemented by archaeology, and even Boswell and Johnson visiting the Hebrides have their part to play. Briefly
there is little to say of this clear and critical narrative - except that it is indispensable. When reprinting, the legend to
plate 1 needs correction, though the right and left items are easily distinguished.
London Kenneth Harrison
R. A. Alec-Smith, A Catalogue Raisonne of the Corporation Plate and Insignia of the City and County of Kingston
upon Hull, Ridings Publishing Co., Driffield, 1973, pp. viii+147, illus., .£5.50.
Although the insignia and plate of Hull cannot rank in importance with those of Bristol, Norwich, Oxford or
ARCHIVAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: BOOK REVIEWS
161
York, it can be placed high in the second class and, thanks to the efforts of Alderman Alec-Smith, is now the most
fully documented of any. The town founded by Edward I was a success from the beginning but although in due
course it received all the usual tributes, it has too often failed to retain them. Only the blade of the sword granted in
1440 now survives whilst the great mace dates from 1776. The losses appear to be due to minor wrong decisions and
not to any series of catastrophes. Thus there was a chain for the Lady Mayoress already in 1604 but it was exchange
for an epergne in 1785 and the latter was sold when the Radicals captured the town after the Municipal Reform Act.
The opposition on this occasion was more effective than in many other boroughs. Although the Mayor s chain was
the only part of the insignia retained in use, the remainder was preserved and likewise most of the plate. An appendix
reprints the sale catalogue which shows that most of the lots consisted of flatware which was judged inappropriate
in 1836 but which would be quite welcome again now. ... ,
The latten seal dating from the charter of 1299 is the outstanding item in the insignia. The Mayor s chain consists
of plain links and dates from the reign of Elizabeth I, the decorations having been added in Victorian times. One °*
the serjeant’s maces may date from the sixteenth century but the other is engraved 1651 and both have suffered from
having been brought up to date at the Restoration. The Water-Bailiff’s oar is unique in being of oak and may date
from the reign of Elizabeth I. As early as 1436 there were collars for the Waits but they seem to have disappeared early
in the last century.
Turning to the plate, the Mayor was bequeathed a cup in 1439 but nothing is known of it. Another which was
bequeathed in 1517 was exchanged in 1739. The Lister flagons, bequeathed in 1641, are now the earliest pieces
received direct by the Corporation. The latter, however, in 1707 annexed the plate of the moribund Merchants
Company and from it survive three pairs of baluster-stem cups dating 1621-163 1 . After the Restoration were received
a porringer and salver made by Thomas Best of York, but only the salver survives. About the same date were
received a pair of large tankards by Marmaduke Best of York. It is curious that the Corporation seem to have had
scant dealing with the Hull silversmiths although the Corporation of Trinity House got excellent work from them.
The plate added in Georgian times went mostly in the sale of 1836 although some of it has been recovered. Since civic
plate became respectable again in the middle of last century there has been a continuous flow of acquisitions. Some
have been strictly practical, others are antiques but the fashions of the 1 ast hundred years are represented by import-
ant pieces by the most reputable firms such as Elkingtons, Barnards, the Guild of Handicrafts and Leslie Durbin.
It is hoped that this tradition will be continued and that benefactors will refrain from giving replicas of Georgian
pieces rather larger than life! _
t Charles Oman
Derek Barlow, Dick Turpin and the Gregory Gang, Phillimore, 1973, PP- 477? illvis., -£7.50.
The publishers rightly claim that this is not just another book about one of our greatest folk-heroes. It is a sober,
extensive account not only of Turpin, but also of the gang with whom he commenced his career in crime. Half
the book is devoted to the activities of the Gregory gang which, beginning with deer-stealing in Essex, graduated
to more ambitious robberies, manslaughter, murder, and rape both there and elsewhere in the south-east. In the
early 1730s Turpin was a butcher. At that stage his involvement was confined to receiving and selling stolen
venison. Later he became more active and, after the demise of the Gregory brothers in I735> survived to pursue,
with occasional accomplices, a highly adventurous and disreputable course till executed at York in 1739- Although
by then his activities and reputation had spread throughout northern and eastern England, he was finally arrested
merely, and ironically, for disturbing the peace.
By dint of laborious research in local and national archives, among manuscript and printed sources, the legends
which have enveloped Turpin for so long are here dismantled. The book also contains much fascinating information
relating to law and disorder and various other aspects of contemporary everyday life. It is not a pretty story. Nor,
unfortunately, is it well told. Mr Barlow is inevitably and heavily reliant on legal records, newspapers, and
pamphlets. Consisting chiefly of allegations and rumours rather than hard facts, these are difficult sources to use in
constructing a narrative. To be convincing the story must necessarily and regularly be punctuated by close scrutiny
of the evidence. However, the author never achieves a balance between narrative and analysis. Moreover, due
largely to his exceedingly verbose and circuitous style, the book is inordinately long. It could beneficially have been
cut by a third. Mr Barlow attempts to relieve the tedium, but in fact makes matters worse, by dividing and
re-dividing the text. His volume is comprised of six ‘books’, twenty-eight chapters, and no less than 170 sub-
sections, the smallest of which has precisely two lines of text and six of indented quotation. Presentation of the
many quotations is inconsistent; a whole variety of typographies and conventions is used. Footnotes are placed at
the end of chapters. There are, for inconvenience, four separate indexes. Finally, there is brief, curious, and
thoroughly inadequate ‘Select Chronological Bibliography’ where presentation reaches a nadir.
This book, therefore, leaves one with distinctly mixed feelings. Though almost totally lacking in general historical
perspective, it contains a mine of information which many will find both interesting and valuable. Yet it is unpleasur-
able to read while, with the exception of the illustrations, the publishers have done their job shabbily. If they wish
to be taken seriously, especially at this price, they should curb authors wilder eccentricities, and adhere to the
generally accepted procedures for producing purportedly serious works of this kind.
New University of Ulster P- R°EBUCK
Bryan Berryman, Scarborough As It Was, Nelson: Hendon Publishing Co., I972> PP- 8 + 38 illustrations, 42P*
Ronald Willis, York As It Was, Nelson: Hendon Publishing Co., I973> PP* 8 + 38 illustrations, 42P-
Each booklet is a collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century photographs and prints which, although
inevitably biased towards architecture, and towards buildings now demolished or altered, also includes scenes of
daily life and events of local significance. Both selections of illustrations, each rather randomly arranged, are prefaced
by an introduction: Mr Berryman provides a concise account of the development of Scarborough, whilst Mr
Willis writes on York in a generally more anecdotal manner. These introductions naturally take account of the
succeeding illustrations, which makes the task of relating the two, given the lack of plate numbers, needlessly
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
162
laborious and tedious. The absence of a town plan showing relevant streets and buildings, and marking the site of
each photograph, further confuses any reader unfamiliar with the town in question.
It is pleasing that, as the many publications of collections of photographs testify, there is such interest in this aspect
of our comparatively recent past. However, it is important that these publications not only attempt to date and give
information on the content of their photographs, but that they also state the source of each one. Few of the York
illustrations are individually acknowledged, and none of those of Scarborough. Nevertheless, each booklet is
fascinating to read and forms a useful selection from what must become as complete and adequately documented a
local archive of photographs as is possible.
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, York Ian H. Goodall
Hugh A. Bodey, Industrial History in Huddersfield, Huddersfield Public Libraries, 1972, pp. 48, 50p.
Five of the essays in this book have been written by Mr. Hugh Bodey on the basis of investigations undertaken by
an industrial history group which began life as an adult education class in Huddersfield. The sixth is the work of a
class in Holmfirth under the direction of Mr. Cyril Pearce. The title of the book is misleading, as most of the sites
and areas considered lie outside the town of Huddersfield.
Mr Pearce and his students have made an interesting study of the village of Holme in the middle decades of the
nineteenth century, based upon the census returns of 1841, 1851 and 1861. Upwards of seventy per cent of the work-
ing population was employed in woollen textiles, most of them, in 1861 as well as in 1841, being handloom weavers.
Most of the latter were described in 1841, but not subsequently, as ‘clothiers’. After warning himself not to do so,
Mr Pearce makes the assumption that the term ‘clothier’ still carried its traditional meaning - an independent
producer buying raw wool and selling finished or half-finished cloth - in 1841, and that therefore ‘in the space of
ten years the traditional woollen workers’ way of life had ended’. Although a few independent producers, using
hand-operated jennies together with handlooms, survived in parts of the West Riding until a later date, it would be
surprising if 71 out of 96 weavers in Holme were functioning in this way in 1841.
Of the other papers the most substantial are a study of Coffin Row in Linthwaite, an oddly-shaped three-storey
building (recently demolished) the top floor of which was a large handloom workshop ; and some notes on coal
mining and fireclay production in the Huddersfield area. The shorter essays deal with Kirklees corn and fulling mill,
the Apsley canal basin, and a small rural brewery near Marsden. They are included mainly to draw attention to the
need for further research and for preservation. Mr Bodey’s papers are illustrated by photographs and drawings.
University of Leeds Bernard Jennings
Susan D. Brooks, Parish and People in the Yorkshire Dales through Ten Centuries, The author, 3 Brooklyn,
Grassington, Skipton, 1973, pp. 64, 1 map, 50p.
This booklet is a labour of love, fired by an enthusiasm to convey the impact of the Church on the everyday life
of the villagers in north-west Yorkshire. It is very readable and succeeds in its conscious aim of distilling historical
research through a popular approach. Apart from its occasional record of local folk-lore, it is an ephemeral account
of worship and Christian service of all the denominations.
University of Leeds Lawrence Butler
George Capel, Harrogate As It Was, pp. 44, 9op.
Ian Dewhirst, Old Keighley in Photographs , pp. 44, 84p.
Arthur Porritt, Halifax As it Was, pp. 44, 9op.
Harold Speak and Jean Forrester, Old Wakefield in Photographs, pp. 44, 88p.
Nelson: Hendon Publishing Co., 1972, except Halifax, 1973.
These handsome volumes of generous 11 inches by 8£ inches format amply demonstrate what our environmental
losses have been in the interests of commercialism and in satisfying the escalating requirements of vehicular traffic.
They are also timely in reinforcing a concern with the visual qualities of some of our significant northern towns
during the nineteenth century.
The titles suggest a preoccupation with such visual aspects rather than historical documentation, and the whole
presentation, its typography and layout, heighten this sense of nostalgia and retrospection. Although the
photographs and their reproduction are of a high standard, it is unfortunate that the student concerned with the
development of urban form cannot relate this visual evidence to town plans and street maps which could have given
more ‘structure’ to the photographic record. This is particularly so in the case of Harrogate where its important
formal elements could have been easily communicated to the unfamiliar reader. The volumes on Halifax and
Wakefield do, however, include panoramic town views from the early nineteenth century.
As a record of small scale urban incident these volumes are most successful for the hard landscaping, architectural
detail, the street furniture, commercial typography, costume and even an occasional Edwardian Daimler give a
rich insight into life styles all but forgotten. The photographs have been well edited to give a wide spread of
events and interest but this reviewer felt that the introductory note could well have been expanded in each case to
provide the unfamiliar reader with some historical background concerning urban growth and patterns. But perhaps
this and also the cross reference of photographic material with town plans were outside the scope and brief of the
editors.
The straightforward presentation does, nevertheless, strike an admirable balance between simple nostalgia and
providing ample fodder for our conservationists. At less than ^ji.oo per volume they are excellent value.
University of Sheffield Peter Fawcett
John Coles, Field Archaeology in Britain, Methuen, 1972, pp. vi + 267, illus., Hardback £3.50, Paperback £1.75.
This introduction to the organisation and practice of archaeology is clearly aimed at Extra-Mural classes. It
provides outlines of practices in field recording and in excavation which are full enough to give the inexperienced
volunteer on an excavation some idea of where his task on a site fits a larger pattern.
ARCHIVAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: BOOK REVIEWS
163
The sections in themselves are concise, up-to-date and adequately illustrated. Methods of surveying are
particularly thoroughly covered, perhaps at a length out of proportion to other matters. However, this emphasis
on field recording is valuable, showing the beginner how much he can do without embarking on excavation for
which his experience is inadequate. The excavation section should certainly be read by anyone contemplating
assisting as a volunteer, and may help to prevent the disillusionment some people inevitably feel when they find an
excavation differs from the popular view.
There is one major problem. The author implies that field archaeology is analogous to prehistoric archaeology,
indeed the latter term is commonly used when commenting on archaeology as a whole, giving the impression that
anything later is neither any concern of his nor in any way similar in approach. Yet this is a handbook on methods,
and these are no different on sites of a.d. 1600 from those of three or more millennia earlier: the same standards
and approaches apply. The beginner who uses this survey as an introduction could well fail to realise the scope and
vigour of work in the historic periods, and for this reason the recommendation the book would otherwise receive
must be qualified.
University of Sheffield David Crossley
J. M. Dickinson, Mines and t’ Miners. A History of Lead Mining in Airedale, Wharfedale and Nidderdale , The author,
8 Cedar Grove, Sutton-in-Craven, Keighley, Yorkshire, 1973, pp. 79, iUus., no price stated.
The remains left in the Dales by the lead mining industry attract the attention of many visitors whose questions
have received only inadequate answers, apart from technical journals such as the Memoirs of the Northern
Cavern and Mine Research Society of which the author of this guide was for many years the recorder. He has done
a service to all who have become interested in the subject by bringing together an account of the many lead mines
of the three dales, from the records of the Northern Cavern and Mine Research Society and from his own
experience, for a time, as a miner in some of the more recently worked mines.
Starting south of Skipton, a brief note of the history of the Cononley mines is followed by an account of their
working both in their heyday in the nineteenth century and in the few attempts to revive them as late as in 1930.
The small scale zinc, copper and lead mines of Malham Moor, with lead mines on the west of the river Wharfe
have short historic notices, followed by a substantial section on Grassington Moor. The history of the eighteenth
century in that field, with some notice of the Free Miners, precedes a detailed account of work on the principal
veins during the nineteenth century. This gives a picture of this busy industrial area in the years of its greatest
success and will give readers some idea of what a working mine involves. Untidy remains which now disfigure a
small part of the Moor were left by the Dales Chemical Company whose activities after 193 5 are well described.
Perhaps the most valuable part of the book for anyone with knowledge of mining is the longest section on the
Greenhow Hill lead mining field, which occupies about half of the publication. The author, who worked in some of
these mines, has given a valuable record, mine by mine, of much of the field, and includes some new material, parti-
cularly on twentieth-century work. This work clearly illustrates the speculative and adventurous nature of mining.
One realises as this story is read the vast amount of skilled work, planning, and courageous investment which have
gone to make the industry now only represented by remains which this publication should make more intelligible.
It is recommended to all who wish to have a simple introduction to this passed industry, as well as being a welcome
addition to our local mining literature.
Hnton Arthur Raistrick
Charles Hadfield, The Canals of Yorkshire and North East England; Newton Abbot: David & Charles, vol. 1, I972>
vol. 2, 1973, pp. 506, maps and illus. £3.50 and ^3-95-
Baron F. Duckham, The Inland Waterways of East Yorkshire; York: East Yorkshire Local History Series, No. 29,
1972, pp. 72, 8op.
The fifteen-volume series of The Canals of the British Isles, inaugurated and largely written by Charles Hadfield,
is now almost complete: a monumental and pioneering achievement since, before Hadfield, inland waterways had
attracted little serious historical research.
Hadfield sets out to provide not a detailed and definitive history of each waterway, but a regional study which
allows their different characters to be compared, and their relationships understood, more easily. For Yorkshire,
we still have only one full-scale study of a navigation — Duckham s book on the Ouse — and a few papers on aspects
of particular waterways; but further research will surely be stimulated by Hadfield’s groundwork. Hadfield
deliberately states, too, that his books are ‘not meant as studies in economic history, though they could provide
some of the material for such studies’. This is true, if over-modestly phrased, for finances, dividends, the quantity,
nature and flow of traffic, the competition between waterways and railways, all loom large. Nor does he pretend
to be a technical historian, but concentrates on the basic history of the various navigations as businesses and as
transport routes. As such, his books are authoritative and illuminating, admirably filling a long-felt want.
Two general criticisms might be levelled at the series as a whole. ‘Canals’ in the title is simply misleading, since
all the volumes - the Yorkshire ones more than most - deal with river navigations as well as artificial waterways.
Again, though he brings his history laudably up to date, Hadfield really only begins his surveys with the first river
improvements. Earlier navigation on unimproved rivers such as the Don, Aire and Ure, however heavy and import-
ant the traffic, is either ignored or at best mentioned in passing. The sources may indeed be fragmentary, but a much
fuller picture of medieval river trade is available than Hadfield supplies.
The Yorkshire navigations with which he deals (the three trans-Pennine canals were covered in earlier volumes)
were of the utmost significance as the lifelines of the ^Vest Riding mines, nulls and markets. The four main systems
involved - based on the Aire & Calder, the Don and the Ouse, and the smaller navigations of the East Riding -
all, ultimately, looked down to the Humber and to Hull. Of these, the Aire & Calder dominates Hadfield’s work as
it dominated the waterway system of Britain as well as of Yorkshire. It kept itself abreast of its growing traffic
with ambitious improvements; it successfully met railway competition; it boosted Selby and created Goole; and its
overall record of service to customers and of recompense to proprietors and shareholders, though not unsullied.
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
164
has been the longest and brightest of any waterway in Britain. The other waterways in the county are dealt with
in as much, or as little, detail as they deserve.
Throughout, Hadfield succeeds in the doubly difficult task of making both clear and readable the complexities
of waterway politics and, as an ardent believer in the viability of waterways in our present unhappy transport
scene, he emphasises the success of recent capital investment in the Leeds and Rotherham lines. On detail, however,
even Homer can occasionally nod, with a muddle about the bills, dates, and undertakers’ names for the Derwent.
But no pioneer work of this kind can possibly achieve total accuracy, and any such errors pale into insignificance
beside the value of the whole work.
Baron Duckham’s study of the East Riding waterways is well up to the usual standard of the East Yorkshire
Local History Society. This loosely-connected group of navigations, whose primarily agricultural character con-
trasts strongly with the industrial traffic of the West Riding, was of little more than local significance. Duckham’s
book and the corresponding part of Hadfield’s inevitably invite comparison. Duckham’s title - ‘Inland Waterways’ -
is the more realistic, and he deals with medieval trade much more fully than Hadfield. On the whole, Duckham
goes into greater detail, with a few minor gaps which Hadfield fills. But their approach is very similar and there
is no clash of facts or of conclusions. Those interested solely in the East Riding will probably be satisfied with
Duckham alone; to those concerned with Yorkshire in toto, Hadfield is a must and Duckham a useful bonus.
University of Hull M. J. T. Lewis
Ivan and Elisabeth Hall, Historic Beverley, York: Ebor Press, 1973, pp. 108., illus., ^1.50.
The object of the authors has been to record as accurately and fully as possible the buildings which have survived
from Beverley’s historic past, and to present the available material about the time and circumstances of their
construction. This they have done magnificently within the scope of one hundred and eight packed pages, and at a
price which brings the book within everybody’s range. The book is a model of the type which serves both the
serious student and the interested amateur. It can be commended to every member of this Society, to all students
of English urban architecture, and particularly to all Beverley’s burgesses, and to the members of the new authority
of which Beverley will shortly form part. As a work of reference it should prove invaluable in planning the future.
Beverley is a delightful town, and the book certainly does justice to some of its delights. The Minster is very
fully illustrated, and so are many of the picturesque streets and corners and the magnificent Georgian houses of
which so many survive. Nevertheless it is a pity that the book does less than justice to the town as a whole. There
is no illustration of the Westwood, and of the way this splendid open space is tied into the fabric of the town,
nor of the skilfully handled approaches to the Minster, nor of the space and harmony of the market place
dominated by the cross and by the tower of St. Mary’s. This is all the more regrettable, because it is these aspects of
Beverley that could so easily be ruined by ill considered improvements; in fact this has already happened in
Highgate, in Ladygate, and in Minster Moorgate, and could happen again if the importance of the effects achieved
at Beverley is not appreciated.
All the same, the book deserves an honoured place in every library. A slightly irritating fault is that the illustra-
tions are not numbered directly, and a good deal of time can be spent sorting out - Fig. 133, below centre, etc.,
while certain plans, Lairgate Hall on page 63, for example, escape having any reference number at all.
Harrogate J. S. Miller
David Hey, The Rural Metalworkers of the Sheffield Region: A Study of Rural Industry Before the Industrial
Revolution, Department of English Local History, Occasional Papers, 2nd Ser., No. 5, Leicester University Press,
1972, pp. 60 and map, £1.00.
This study deals with one of the most significant groups of those rural craftsmen and putting-out industrialists
who formed the backbone of European industry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and who are again
receiving much attention as the fertile soil out of which the industrial revolution emerged.
It is clear that the author has worked over his material with loving care, he knows his area and he uses the
available sources well. As his earlier published work has shown, he is careful with detail but he tends to jump to
conclusions on uncertain evidence, as e.g. on p. 23 where the citation does not by itself allow a deduction in that
scythe grinding was seasonal work. Also, there are some abrupt changes of topic in the text and the connection of
footnotes to text is not always clear, as on p. 11, note 3. Note 2 on p. 15 contains an unfortunate printers’ error.
Beyond the detail, Mr. Hey also deals effectively with some of the major themes arising out of his studies. He is
most successful in demonstrating by many examples how important was the role of the putting-out factors and
merchants in supplying the personnel and the primitive capital accumulation for the later industrial revolution. He
is least happy with his attempts to integrate his findings with general demographic history: this is in part because it
is scrappily treated, and in part because of the tendency to place the ‘population explosion’ into his period
(c. 1690-1750), rather than in the period following. This weakens the case for the repeated references to
insufficient land to go round.
What interests him most, and what receives the greatest attention, is the dual agricultural-industrial occupation of
many craftsmen and what one might call the Jones-Thirsk thesis of the link between poor soil and climate on the one
hand and early industrial pre-occupation on the other. The thesis is an attractive one and one wishes that more
proof could be found for it, but in his eagerness Mr Hey tends too often to mistake data which are not inconsistent
with such an interpretation, for actual proof. Thus (p. 31) it is not surprising that the urban metalworkers of
Attercliffe had less farm stock and property than their rural contemporaries, and therefore left less in their wills,
but it is by no means sure that they were thereby ‘poorer’ in the sense that they had a lower income during their
lifetime. They might in fact have been attracted into full-time industrialism precisely by the promise of higher total
earnings: Sheffield wages, as Mr. Hey himself shows, were high before the factory system. One would like to know
which tendency predominated, but Mr Hey’s tables are no proof of one way or the other, and his footnote refers
to data of a century later.
ARCHIVAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: BOOK REVIEWS
165
The printing is attractive, as one has come to expect from this series, and the present number forms a worthy
addition to it Sidney Pollard
University cj Sheffield
K. Hoole (ed.), The Hull and Barnsley Railway, vol. I, Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 1972, pp. 33 C lllus->
K.^Hoole, (ed.), Forgotten Railways: North-East England, Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 1973, PP- 2I2> iUus->
^ The Hull and Barnsley ,s a railway which has attracted several writers; yet most have merely looked at limited
aspects of its h.story or have dealt with it briefly. Brevity will not be the weakness of this work . tc .be f°Uo"e^e
it noted) by a second volume. Mr Hoole has edited an interesting symposium which gets well away from the time-
honoured excesses of enthusiasm for the merely mechanical (the besetting sin of popular
concentrates on genuinely important themes. We are given a useful account of the railway s birth and
involvement of Hull Corporation, who saw in the line not only a ready access to West Yorkshire coal but also a
means to break the North Eastern’s alleged stranglehold of the port. Regional historians will find the vc > urn
a mine of factual information about the Hull and Barnsley s promotion, construction, years of difficulty a
operation of Alexandra Dock. Unfortunately they will also discover a certain amount of repetition caused by the
overlap of contributions. The volume would have benefited from some cuts - one wonders for instance whether
too much space is not given to dock construction and too little to actual traffic and trade - while it is a pity that not
more is said about th? company’s flirtation with steamship chartering. Possibly the second instalment may take
up these themes again. Forgotten Railways: North East England is in lighter vein, but will prove a charming and
informative companion to those who like to include a little industrial archaeology on their outings in the region.
No one is a surer guide than Mr Hoole. Baron p DuCKHAM
University of Strathclyde
Fred Horner, Dunnington, the History of a Village Community , York. Ebor Press, 1973, PP- 7°, hlus., -£1.00.
Dunmngton lies only three miles from York and the university at Heslington, and the village has recently
expanded into a dormitory for them both. For the residents, old and new, Mr Horner has compiled an interesting
collection of facts and anecdotes about the place, leavened with a great deal of rural chat about nowhere in particu ar.
Most of the useful information relates to the eighteenth century and later and it would have been better to have
omitted the unhappy section called ‘Earlier Times’. Non-resident readers, less interested in Remmy the horse and
Mrs William, may feel that some of the more significant aspects of Dunnington s history have been neglected. ere
is no account, J example, of the ownership of much of the land by two York prebendaries, which goes far to
explain the fact that Dunnington ‘for many centuries has not been dominated by any great landowning squ re
Not much is said about the changes associated with enclosure: the interesting early enclosure of the open fie ds 5 and
meadows in 1707 is not mentioned, only that of the commons in i772 (not 1770 as stated). More too could have been
made of the manufacture of farm implements, for which Dunnington was well-known and the/^°™g “
drying of chicory, the most unusual feature of the village’s history. The book is beautifully produced, but in other
respects should not be compared with Miss Reader’s scholarly work on Broomfleet and Faxfleet, which appeared
in a similar format from the Ebor Press. K r Allison
Victoria County History, Beverley J
H. E. Jean le Patourel, The Moated Sites of Yorkshi.e, Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series:
NJean Le^tourePs3 important new’ monograph in the Society for Medieval Archaeology series begins with a
valuable survey of the surviving Yorkshire moats, supported by an exhaustive concluding gazetteer. Sensibly Mrs
Le Patourel attempts no new classification of moated sites, making use of the Royal Commission s published West
Cambridgeshire classification, to which she adds a further A 5 series of her own She has much of interest to say on
problems of distribution and of date, emphasizing the predominantly lowland distribution of the Yorkshire moats,
which she explains in terms of the suitability of soils, and pointing to a concentration of moat construction m the
thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, not before. On the exceptionally difficult question of ownership, where
site and document are brought together, Mrs Le Patourel’s analysis is interesting but inconclusive. She is careful,
however, to make no claims she cannot fully support. , . . , , „ • .1
In the reporting of the four excavations at East Haddlesey, Rest Park, Newstead and Methley, all in th
Riding Mrs Le Patourel’s touch is less sure. It may be, as she claims, that the four sites cover the social range
responsible for most moat building’, yet they do little to resolve the particular problems of the moated site m York-
shire and it would be difficult to say that the so-called ‘minor gentry site at Methley establishes anything at all. This,
to do her justice, is not Mrs Le Patourel’s fault. She tells us clearly when and why the excavations were undertaken,
and it is plain that they formed no part of a deliberately-conceived research programme^ More serious though are
the doubts archaeologists are likely to feel as to the adequacy of her discussion of the sites. Mrs Le Patourel s technique
is interpretative rather than descriptive, with the consequence that her reports, although unusually lucid, are startlingly
deficient in detail. Neither in these nor in her description of the finds would it be possible for her readers to estab is 1
the merits of the author’s conclusions from the evidence she has chosen to publish. Typically, in an otherwise model
discussion of the pottery from the sites, we are given no exact provenance for any of the illustrated sherds.
This is an austere work, and its austerity of presentation is particularly damaging to the archaeology. But it is
also a verv good one. Mrs Le Patourel has pondered her subject deeply, and has wrung from it every drop ol
evidence she can. Her pioneer study will, we must hope, be a model to others in this field. It is a genuine
contribution to knowledge. CoLIN pLATT
University of Southampton
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
1 66
John Markham, The 1820 Parliamentary Election at Hedon, The author, 24 Wylies Road, Beverley, 1971, pp. 63, 37^p.
Mr Markham paints a fascinating and detailed picture of a corrupt parliamentary election in a pre-reform rotten
borough and the subsequent petition to unseat the winning candidate who is accused of using wanton bribery. The
corruption of a rotten borough comes as no surprise. The most interesting factors to emerge from this study are the
electors’ treatment of their franchise almost as an occupation (some of them virtually living off the profits!) and the
cynical subversion even of the lax electoral laws of that period, as revealed by the manuscript account of the pro-
ceedings of the parliamentary committee which heard the petition. Mr Markham summarises this interesting
document in a chronological narrative of the five days’ hearing, thus providing an absorbing ‘graphic illustration’ of
his subject. Possibly the account would have yielded more valuable information if it had been subjected to a
searching critical analysis of the evidence, rather than used to provide local spicy support to the hypotheses of too-
frequently-quoted ‘experts’ (Gash, Hanham, Namier et al.). As a whole, the study adds colour but little depth to
our understanding of the pre-reform electoral system. By confining itself to a single election, the study
artificially limits its scope. Although the earlier political history of the borough is briefly described, this detailed
investigation needs to be given the perspective of Hedon’s evolution as a parliamentary borough since the mid-
sixteenth century.
University of Leeds Roger Fieldhouse
A. D. Orange, Philosophers and Provincials : the Yorkshire Philosophical Society from 1822-1844, Yorkshire
Philosophical Society, The Lodge, Museum Gardens, York, 1973, pp. 76, illus., .£1.75.
The book is a paperback with a fairly substantial cover and clear type, but one or two plates could have been more
legible. The text is lucidly presented without bias, and the informed delineation of character makes people live, so
that one appreciates the commanding sanity of Vernon Harcourt and the general excellence of John Phillips, to pick
two from the valuable biographies of the early members. At the first meeting on the 7 December 1822 William
Salmond, James Atkinson and Anthony Thorpe, all owners of Kirkdale Cave material decided to invite others to
join them, and William Harcourt soon became the presiding genius and probably extended the idea to include a
literary society. By 1827-8 the collections were too large for the first headquarters in Low Ousegate, and the Society
moved to the Manor Shore where new buildings designed by William Wilkins and Richard Hey Sharp were erected
in the Classical style. The public appeal was upset by the demands of the York Minster restoration after the fire of
1829, but good administration, helped by Dr. Stephen Beckwith’s bequest of £9000 in 1843, enabled the Society
to have the garden redesigned by Sir John Naismith, and to restore the Hospitium, on their holding being
extended to the river in 1837.
From this point the story, with constant references to important members of differing types helping in their various
capacities, is interwoven with the founding of the British Association in York in 1831 and its subsequent develop-
ment. John Phillips, the first Keeper, who had been ably assisted by the sub-curator Henry Baines, resigned in 1840
but he kept in contact and his career constantly advanced to the benefit of the Society. By 1849 the first volume of
Proceedings was produced and a high standard of personnel continued as younger men came into office. The return
of the British Association to York in 1844 was a great success, and together with the amusing exchange between
Dean Cockburn and Professor Sedgwick about the formation of the earth, forms a finale to the book.
The foreword is that of Vernon Harcourt in 1827: ‘We knew at least the value of knowledge and did our best . . .
to promote its advancement’ and at the end of the book is a comment by Hugh Miller: ‘I found the geological
department . . . exquisitely arranged . . . that it had been laid out under the eye of Phillips . . . removed at least all
cause of wonder’.
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, York. E. A. Gee
Arthur Raistrick, Lead Mining in the Mid Pennines, Truro: D. Bradford Barton, 1973, pp. 172, illus., ^2.85.
Dr Raistrick is to be congratulated on this book which constitutes a valuable addition to the recent series of
excellent publications on mining history. This work is a natural extension of the author’s previous texts on the
development of the lead mining industry.
The book is divided up into individual areas of the mid-Pennine region and in each case the development of mining
is traced from its origins to the most recent exploitations.
The vast amount of documentary research that the author has undertaken is perhaps best reflected in the personal
details of the characters involved in the various mining enterprises. One can imagine from the text some of the
excitement and disappointments of the adventurers in their quest for ore. The book also conveys the tenacity of
purpose and the technical vision of these men, as indicated by the magnitude of some of the mining ventures
undertaken.
The book is much more than a chronological record of people and events however. In the text, the author includes
a description of the geological background to the mining areas and traces the development of methods of exploiting
and treating the ore, as well as such economic data as is necessary to clarify the overall picture. I feel, therefore, that
to be fully appreciated, the book behoves the reader to possess some prior knowledge of the geological and mining
environment.
As regards presentation, the book contains some excellent photographs but I would criticise the author for includ-
ing too few diagrams and for the standard of some of the ones the book does contain. Most have too little topographic
detail to properly orientate oneself. Particularly to the less knowledgeable reader the lack of standard symbols, the
inadequate definition of key words and in one instance the absence of a scale do not facilitate ready comprehension.
Despite this criticism, however, Dr Raistrick’s book is one I can strongly recommend to all serious students of
mining history not only as a reference book, but also as a guide to the lead mines of the mid-Pennine area.
University of Newcastle upon Tyne R. K. Dunham
ARCHIVAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: BOOK REVIEWS
167
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), City of York, Volume II, The Defences,
1972, pp. xviii + 205, 68 plates (6 colour), 94 figs., 3 folding plans, £7.25.
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), City of York. Volume III. South-West of the Ouse,
H.M.S.O., 1972, pp. cvi + 158, 207 plates (6 colour), 73 figs., 5 maps, 2 folding plans, .£10.50.
The appearance of an Inventory by the Royal Commission is still unfortunately too rare an occurrence, but the
publication of two Inventories on Y ork in 1 972 is a maj or contribution to the archaeology of that city . These v olumes
represent two decades of meticulous investigation. The high standards of architectural recording and scholarship,
for which the Commission is admired throughout Europe, are here maintained.
The volume on York Defences provides a comprehensive record of the Castle, the city defences and the abbey
walls. A well-balanced introduction leads into a detailed inventory of the individual bars, towers and walls. It is
stressed how the inconvenience of the defences led to strong demands by the Corporation early in the nineteenth
century for their removal, but the opposition argued with foresight that the walls were a potential tourist attraction.
In a volume of this nature it is disappointing that the figures and colour plates are not numbered for ease of
reference. The positioning of the maps in relation to their text should have been given more thought. Some of the
artistic impressions from old engravings do not enhance the volume and the coy angels supporting the arms of
York are derived from Hollywood models rather than from Botticelli.
York III comprises that part of the ancient city south and west of the Ouse, the villages of Acomb, Dringhouses
and Middlethorpe, and the newer prosperity of railway stations, road bridges and racecourse. This is a valuable
architectural record of the 165 buildings described in detail especially so when 28 of these have been demolished
since the investigations started. Buildings whose importance is obvious at first glance are fully recorded, but new
light is shed on those structures that are hidden behind more modern cladding. One of these is the Bar Convent
where the severe street front of 1789 hides a delicate classical chapel with a rotunda of 1766. The detailed attention
to documentary evidence shows to great advantage in a minor masterpiece of industrial recording : this is the Old
Railway Station built for the York and North Midland company in 1841. For thirty years it was the only station
in York and has survived little altered. The plan and architectural details are investigated as fully as any medieval
church.
By far the greatest proportion of historic buildings in York III are the houses. The treatment according to them is
of immense value to the architectural student and to the social historian. The former will find the Introduction
particularly useful in giving accurate closely dated records for a large number of eighteenth-century details, such
as window and door frames, staircases and cornices. The social historian can trace the street by street replacement
of dwellings and the development of new artisan terraces both inside and outside the walls. The physical reality of
early nineteenth-century population growth can thus be understood. An example of how completely a house is
investigated is shown by 57-9 Micklegate, which in the architectural richness of York does not even rate as
‘especially worthy of preservation’ ; yet the history of its occupation and of its internal features is meticulously noted.
Throughout this volume the illustrations are well drawn and the photographs informative; the inclusion of six
colour plates for medieval stained glass and for the Art Nouveau over-mantel at Elm Bank is an acceptable
extravagance.
The excessive detail of the material here published provokes doubts over the purpose of the Inventories. The
volumes on York compared to that on Oxford highlight this inexorable growth. When the survey of York is
completed, perhaps the time will come to cut the Gordian knot and separate that material available to students in
the Commission’s files from the much slimmer volume of evidence on ‘structures worthy of mention’ and
‘especially worthy of preservation’ described and illustrated in the Inventories.
University of Leeds Lawrence Butler
S. Price and G. Ruffhead (eds.), Three Yorkshire Villages, Newton-on-Ouse Local History Group, 1973, PP- 96, 65p.
This addition to the growing number of Yorkshire village histories concerns the adjacent communities of Linton,
Newton and Beningbrough, which together form the ecclesiastical parish of Newton-on-Ouse. The group respon-
sible for it began as an evening class under the direction of Mr L. P. Wenham and Mr G. Ruffhead, and they
have commendably decided to publish some of their findings. They tell the story of the three villages between about
1700 and 1850, though with some looking backward and forward at either end. The quality and style of
contributions inevitably varies; some parts suffer from the presentation of local facts for their own sake, or from
being unshaped materials for a history rather than a finished product. Nevertheless, good use is made of wills,
inventories, accounts and estate papers, and the booklet provides a useful addition to the agrarian history of the
Vale of York.
York Archaeological Trust D* M. Palliser
Clifford Stephenson, The Ramsdens and their estate in Huddersfield, Huddersfield Corporation 1972, pp. 20, 25p.
Huddersfield was made by the Ramsden family. The process began with William Ramsden in the sixteenth century
who, by a blend of fortune and opportunism, acquired and developed his wife’s inheritance and that of her sisters.
His successor bought the Manor in 1599, and the third Ramsden added Almondbury Manor in 1627. Commerce
was encouraged over the years by a market charter, cloth hall and canal, for the family were keen to develop their
estate in every way. This extended to public buildings, and the drawings of the town hall planned in 1853 but never
built are among nineteen interesting illustrations. Intriguing negotiations from 1917 culminated in the local
authority buying the estate in 1920. The council has now had fifty years in which to learn how to run the estate, and
this booklet marks the repayment of the purchase loans. It makes an interesting story.
Colne Valley Museum, Huddersfield Hugh Bodey
J. Edward Vickers, Sheffield Old and New, East Ardsley: E.P. Publishing Ltd., 1973, pp. 132, illus., .£1.60.
Sheffield, with its unique history of specialist industries in the nineteenth century and its massive contribution to
the development of housing forms and urban design during the 1950’s surely warrants more than a mere collection
i68
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
of ‘before and after’ photographs. The photographs themselves are of excellent quality, but, nevertheless it is difficult
to see exactly what this publication, along with the current vogue for similar nostalgic picture books, is trying to
achieve. It is also difficult to assess the intended market for such a handsome, but superficial work. Clearly a rethink
of the form and content of such publications is overdue and the development of Sheffield, springing from its
traditions of small-scale craftsman-based industry and its geographical isolation, would have provided an
admirable vehicle for such an exercise.
The result is that the reader, unless thoroughly acquainted with Sheffield’s history, is left with a series of unrelated
impressions of how the small-scale urban fabric has accommodated the changing requirements of traffic and
commercial development. Sheffield’s visual qualities really operate at a much larger scale where the dramatic changes
in level, the large tracts of parkland and lush suburbs like Broomhill and Ranmoor become apparent.
The mode of presentation does, however, reveal how unsatisfactorily mainstream post-war commercial
architecture has performed in replacing the urban fabric of the nineteenth century. It also reveals the inadequacies
of development control: perhaps totally different criteria should be explored.
The foreword spuriously claims the work’s importance to the historian. To substantiate this it should have been
better documented, for major buildings are not attributed to their architects, nor indeed, are they put into any
context of architectural history. To merely suggest that the Town Hall is ‘Victorian Gothic’ is clearly insufficient.
Furthermore, the clear errors of more than a decade in dating some of the photographs does not induce confidence
in historical accuracy.
As a collection of photographs of general interest ‘Sheffield Old and New’ provides excellent and cheap browsing
material but goes no further. A more generous introduction and a street map would have been of benefit to those
not familiar with Sheffield’s background and geography.
University of Sheffield Peter Fawcett
Kenneth Wilson and others, The History of Lothersdale, Lothersdale Parish Council, 1972, pp. 251, £2.00.
This account of the social and economic history of a small Pennine community was both inspired and organised by
Mr Kenneth Wilson of Lothersdale. The thirty chapters, covering a wide range of topics including geology, farming,
industry, housing, local government and religious life, are the work of fourteen authors, supplemented by notes
and illustrations supplied by six other people. The principal contributors are Mr Wilson himself, with thirteen
chapters to his name, and Mrs Kate Mason, who wrote five more. Not surprisingly, it is a book of variable quality.
Some chapters are carefully researched and tightly written, others are loose collections of notes and documents.
In particular two chapters made up of loosely-related fragments from the lectures of a local antiquarian - no doubt
included as a tribute to his work in stimulating an interest in the history of Lothersdale - would have benefited from
some editorial attention.
In an introduction Dr Arthur Raistrick describes the book as ‘an offering to the people of Lothersdale’, the value
of which to students from outside ‘will be more or less incidental’. The outsiders may find most to interest them in
the chapters on farming by Mrs Mason; the detailed account of the local Quakers by Dr Raistrick; and Mr Wilson’s
absorbing narrative of his family’s textile mill, which has the flavour of Inheritance but without the Luddites.
Mr Wilson records a survival of the dual economy of farming and textiles in the practice of warp-dressers in the
late nineteenth century leaving the mill for several weeks in the year to work on their farms. He will disappoint
industrial historians, however, by making only the barest mention of his famous water wheel, and by stopping his
account abruptly at the 1914-18 war.
The book is well produced and illustrated, and both Mr Wilson and the parish council are to be congratulated
on their enterprise.
University of Leeds Bernard Jennings
BOOKS RECEIVED
Freda Crowder, A Journey Round Old Rotherham, Rotherham Municipal Museum Publication Number Three,
Rotherham, 1973, pp. 11, illus. , 20p.
G. B. Howcroft, George Shaw of St. Chad’s, Saddleworth, Saddleworth Historical Society Publications Number
One, Saddleworth, 1972, pp. 23, illus., no price stated. Obtainable from The Saddleworth Museum, High Street,
Uppermill, near Oldham.
T. G. Manby, A Bibliography of Yorkshire Prehistory to 197 2, Prehistory Research Section, Yorkshire Archaeological
Society, Leeds, 1973, pp. 12, i5p. Obtainable from Mrs. R. Hartley, 6 Margaret Road, Harrogate HG2 oJZ.
John Markham, Hedon Board School. A study in Victorian elementary education, Hedon Local History Series No. 1,
Hedon, 1973, pp. 22, illus., iop. Obtainable from the author, 24 Wylies Road, Beverley. (By post, I5p.)
Frank Mellor, Yorkshire, Quiet Places, Nelson: Hendon Publishing Co., 1973, PP- 48, illus., 42p.
Ordnance Survey, Map of Hadrian’s Wall, Southampton: Ordnance Survey, 1972, second edition, 6op.
J. Radley and C. Simms, Yorkshire Flooding - Some effects on Man and Nature, York: The Ebor Press, pp. 28, illus., 5op.
Philip Round, Heptonstall History Trail, Calder Civic Trust, 4th edition, 1973, pp. 34, illus., I5p. Obtainable from
David Bond, 82 Cragg Road, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Y'orkshire. (By post, 20p.)
All communications relative to the Editorial side of the Journal should be addressed to the Hon. Editor, R. M
BUTLER, M.A., ph.d., f.s.a., Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, The White House, Chiton, York
from whom lists of conventions should be obtained by intending contributors.
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Further information can be obtained from the Hon. Secretary , Claremont, Clarendon Road, Leeds LS2 9NZ.
The sale of back numbers of the Society’s publications (except the publications of the Roman Antiquities Section)
has been handed over to William Dawson & Sons Ltd., Cannon House, Folkestone, Kent, at the prices
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PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY BY
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1974
CONTENTS OF VOLUME 46
page
EXCAVATIONS OF THREE ROUND BARROWS ON ETTON WOLD, EAST RIDING OF
YORKSHIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . j
D. Coombs
THE PREHISTORY OF THE VALE OF YORK . . . . . . . . . . . . io
The Late J. Radley
ECOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT A ROMANO-BRITISH EARTHWORK IN THE
YORKSHIRE PENNINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
H. M. Tinsley and R. T. Smith
LOW CAYTHORPE, EAST YORKSHIRE - THE MANOR SITE . . . . . . . . 34
Glyn Coppack
ANIMAL REMAINS FROM WHARRAM PERCY . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
M. L. Ryder, J. G. Hurst and H. E. Jean Le Patourel
BOOTHTOWN HALL, A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSE IN THE PARISH OF HALIFAX . . 53
J. A. Gilks
CHEESECAKE HALL, OULTON, WEST RIDING . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
K. Hutton
THE UNIONS OF PARISHES AT YORK, 1547-86 .. .. .. .. .. 87
D. M. Paliiser
THE COUNTY SQUIREARCHY AND THE FIGHT FOR PLACE IN THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I03
P. Roebuck
COMMON FIELD AND ENCLOSURE IN THE LOWER DEARNE VALLEY .. .. no
J. C. Harvey
THE BIRSTALL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Lilian L. Shiman
OBITUARY: C. E. HARTLEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I40
THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REGISTER: 1973 .. .. .. .. .. 141
ARCHIVAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: BOOK REVIEWS .. .. .. 158
PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
THE COUNCIL OF THE YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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